The service sector is the main driver, but inflation growth is at its slowest level in three years and is inching closer to the ECB’s 2% target.
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A week after the ECB cut interest rates in the euro zone, final inflation data confirmed that prices rose at their slowest pace in three years in August, as Euronews previously reported.
Annual inflation stood at 2.2% last month, down from 2.6% in July, according to Eurostat data. By comparison, inflation stood at 5.2% in the same period last year. In the EU, price growth was 2.4% in August compared to last year, down from 2.8% in July and 5.9% in the same month last year.
Within the euro area, Lithuania (0.8%), Latvia (0.9%), Ireland, Slovenia and Finland (all 1.1%) had the smallest price increases. The countries with the highest annual inflation rates were Romania (5.3%) and Belgium (4.3%).
Services drove inflation the most in the euro area in August, with prices in the sector rising 1.8%, while food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose 0.46%, while energy prices fell 0.29%.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, was 2.8%, down from 5.3% a year earlier and heading toward the ECB’s 2% target.
