Estonia registers fastest inflation in eurozone in December

TALLINN – Annual inflation in the eurozone slowed by 0.1 percentage points in December to 1.4 percent, and the fastest inflation was registered in Estonia and Lithuania -- 3.8 percent.

In December 2016, the eurozone inflation rate was 1.1 percent.

The lowest annual rates for December 2017 were registered in Cyprus, which saw a deflation of 0.4 percent, Ireland and Finland, which registered an inflation of 0.5 percent both, and Denmark, 0.8 percent. The highest annual rates were recorded in Lithuania and Estonia, both 3.8 percent, and the United Kingdom, 3.0 percent.

Latvia registered an annual rate of inflation of 2.2 percent in December.

Compared with November 2017, annual inflation fell in 23 member states, remained stable in four and rose in one.

The largest upward impacts to the euro area annual inflation came from fuels for transport, 0.11 percentage points, tobacco, 0.06 pp, and milk, cheese and eggs, 0.05 pp, while telecommunication -0.10 pp, and garments and vegetables, -0.05 pp each, had the biggest downward impacts.