Annual inflation in the euro area was 0.4 percent in August this year, unchanged compared to July, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In August 2013, the annual inflation rate was 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation in the euro area was 0.1 percent in August this year.
Meanwhile, in the European Union (EU-28) annual inflation was 0.5 percent in August, unchanged compared to July. In August 2013, the annual inflation rate in the EU-28 was 1.4 percent, while the monthly inflation rate in the EU-28 was 0.1 percent in August of the current year.
In August this year, annual inflation in the EU-28 fell in 17 states, remained stable in two and increased in nine states as compared with July. The lowest annual inflation rates were observed in Bulgaria (-1.0%), Spain (-0.5%), Estonia, Greece, Italy and Slovakia (all -0.2%) and Poland and Portugal (both -0.1 percent), while the highest were observed in Austria and the UK (both 1.5%), Romania (1.3%) and Finland (1.2%).
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of August this year were registered in Greece (-1.5%), Bulgaria (-1.4%) and Cyprus (-0.4%), while the highest were seen in the UK (1.9%), Portugal (1.6%) and Finland (1.5%).