The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth slowed in February, confirming experts' forecasts and preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, core inflation fell to its lowest level since March 2022.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.6% per year after an increase by 2.8% per year in January. European Union annual inflation was 2.8% in February, down from 3.1% in January.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.6%, confirming economists' forecasts and offsetting the January drop (-0.4%). This was the sharpest price increase since April 2023.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 3.1% per year, as expected, after an increase by 3.3% per year in January. Core inflation has been declining for the 7th month in a row.
The data also showed that the largest contribution to the annual inflation was made by services (+1.73%), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.79%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.42%) and energy (-0.36%).
The lowest annual rates were registered in Latvia, Denmark (both 0.6%) and Italy (0.8%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (7.1%), Croatia (4.8%) and Estonia (4.4%).