Annual inflation down to 2.0% in the euro area

Brussels – The euro area annual inflation rate was 2.0% in August 2018, down from 2.1% in July 2018. A year earlier, the rate was 1.5%. European Union annual inflation was 2.1% in August 2018, down from 2.2% in July. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7%. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Denmark (0.8%), Ireland and Greece (both 0.9%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.7%), Bulgaria (3.7%), Estonia (3.5%) and Hungary (3.4%). Compared with July 2018, annual inflation fell in twelve Member States, remained stable in five and rose in ten.

In August 2018, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (+0.87 percentage points, pp), followed by services (+0.59 pp), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.48 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.09 pp).

Inflation rates (%) measured by the HICP

	Annual rate							Monthly rate
	Aug 17	Mar 18	Apr 18	May 18	Jun 18	Jul 18	Aug 18	Aug 18
Euro area	1.5	1.3	1.3	1.9	2.0	2.1	2.0	0.2
EU	1.7	1.5	1.5	2.0	2.1	2.2	2.1	0.2
Belgium	2.0	1.5	1.6	2.3	2.6	2.7	2.6	1.4
Bulgaria	0.7	1.9	1.7	2.3	3.0	3.6	3.7	0.3
Czech Republic	2.4	1.6	1.8	2.0	2.4	2.2	2.4	0.0
Denmark	1.5	0.4	0.7	1.0	1.1	0.9	0.8	-0.5
Germany	1.8	1.5	1.4	2.2	2.1	2.1	1.9	0.0
Estonia	4.2	2.9	2.9	3.1	3.9	3.3	3.5	0.6
Ireland	0.4	0.5	-0.1	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.9	0.3
Greece	0.6	0.2	0.5	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.9	-0.2
Spain	2.0	1.3	1.1	2.1	2.3	2.3	2.2	0.1
France	1.0	1.7	1.8	2.3	2.3	2.6	2.6	0.5
Croatia	1.5	1.2	1.4	1.8	2.2	2.2	2.1	0.0
Italy	1.4	0.9	0.6	1.0	1.4	1.9	1.6	-0.2
Cyprus	0.5	-0.4	-0.3	1.0	1.7	1.4	1.7	1.2
Latvia	3.2	2.3	2.1	2.4	2.7	2.7	2.8	0.0
Lithuania	4.6	2.5	2.2	2.9	2.6	2.3	1.8	-0.4
Luxembourg	2.3	1.1	1.3	2.1	2.4	2.5	2.4	1.4
Hungary	2.7	2.0	2.4	2.9	3.2	3.4	3.4	0.0
Malta	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.7	2.0	2.1	2.4	0.7
Netherlands	1.5	1.0	1.0	1.9	1.7	1.9	2.1	0.4
Austria	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.3	2.3	2.3	0.0
Poland	1.4	0.7	0.9	1.2	1.4	1.4	1.4	-0.2
Portugal	1.3	0.8	0.3	1.4	2.0	2.2	1.3	-0.7
Romania	0.6	4.0	4.3	4.6	4.7	4.3	4.7	0.1
Slovenia	1.4	1.5	1.9	2.2	2.3	2.1	2.0	0.0
Slovakia	1.6	2.5	3.0	2.7	2.9	2.6	2.9	0.2
Finland	0.8	0.9	0.8	1.0	1.2	1.4	1.4	0.1
Sweden	2.2	2.0	1.8	2.0	2.1	2.2	2.1	-0.3
United Kingdom	2.9	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	:	:
Iceland	-2.6	0.3	-0.7	0.0	1.4	1.9	2.1	-0.5
Norway	1.3	2.2	2.6	2.3	2.7	3.5	3.9	-0.4
Switzerland	0.5	0.7	0.4	1.0	0.9	1.2	1.3	0.0

: = not available

The source dataset is available here.

Euro area inflation rate (%), selected aggregates

	Weight (‰)	Annual rate							Monthly rate
	2018	Aug 17	Mar 18	Apr 18	May 18	Jun 18	Jul 18	Aug 18	Aug 18
All-items HICP	1000.0	1.5	1.3	1.3	1.9	2.0	2.1	2.0	0.2
All-items excluding: > energy	903.0	1.2	1.3	1.1	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.3	0.1
> energy, unprocessed food	828.2	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.2	0.1
> energy, food, alcohol & tobacco	707.3	1.2	1.0	0.8	1.1	0.9	1.1	1.0	0.2
> energy, seasonal food	862.6	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.2	0.2
> tobacco	976.7	1.5	1.2	1.1	1.8	1.9	2.1	1.9	0.2
Food, alcohol & tobacco	195.7	1.4	2.1	2.4	2.5	2.7	2.5	2.4	0.0
> processed food, alcohol & tobacco	121.0	2.0	2.9	3.0	2.6	2.6	2.4	2.4	0.1
> unprocessed food	74.8	0.6	0.8	1.5	2.4	2.9	2.6	2.5	-0.1
Energy	97.0	4.0	2.0	2.6	6.1	8.0	9.5	9.2	0.5
Non-energy industrial goods	263.3	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.2
Services	443.9	1.6	1.5	1.0	1.6	1.3	1.4	1.3	0.1

Contributions to the euro area annual inflation rate (pp), selected aggregates

	Contributions
	Aug 17	Mar 18	Apr 18	May 18	Jun 18	Jul 18	Aug 18
Food, alcohol & tobacco	0.29	0.41	0.47	0.50	0.53	0.49	0.48
> processed food, alcohol & tobacco	0.24	0.35	0.36	0.31	0.31	0.30	0.29
> unprocessed food	0.05	0.06	0.11	0.18	0.22	0.20	0.19
Energy	0.38	0.20	0.25	0.58	0.76	0.89	0.87
Non-energy industrial goods	0.13	0.07	0.09	0.08	0.10	0.12	0.09
Services	0.71	0.67	0.45	0.72	0.57	0.64	0.59