The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth slowed in March, reaching its lowest level since November 2024. Meanwhile, core inflation reached its lowest level since January 2022.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.2% per year after an increase of 2.3% per year in February. Economists and a preliminary estimate also suggested a decline to 2.2%. European Union annual inflation was 2.5% in March, down from 2.7% in February. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6%.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.6%, accelerating from February (+0.4%), and reaching its highest level since April 2024. Consensus estimates also suggested an increase of 0.6%.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 2.4% per year, as expected, after increasing by 2.6% per year in February.
The data also showed that the highest contribution to the annual inflation rate came from services (+1.56%), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.57%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.16%) and energy (-0.10%).
The lowest annual rates were registered in France (0.9%), Denmark (1.4%) and Luxembourg (1.5%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (5.1%), Hungary (4.8%) and Poland (4.4%). Compared with February, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States, remained stable in one and rose in ten.