Annual inflation in the euro area was 2.2 percent in December last year, stable compared to November, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In December 2011, the annual inflation rate was 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation was 0.4 percent in December 2012.
Meanwhile, in the European Union (EU-27) annual inflation was 2.3 percent in December, down from 2.4 percent recorded in November. In the same month of the previous year the annual inflation rate in the EU-27 was 3.0 percent, while monthly inflation was 0.3 percent in December last year.
In December last year, annual inflation fell in 11 states, rose in 11 and remained stable in four states, compared with November 2012. In December, the lowest annual inflation rates in the European Union were observed in Greece with 0.3 percent, in Sweden with 1.1 percent and in France and Cyprus both with 1.5 percent, while the highest were seen in Hungary with 5.1 percent, in Romania with 4.6 percent and in Estonia with 3.6 percent.
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of December 2012 were registered in Sweden at 0.9 percent, in Greece with 1.0 percent and in Germany with 2.1 percent, while the highest were recorded in Hungary with 5.7 percent, in Estonia with 4.2 percent and in Poland and Slovakia both with 3.7 percent.