Flash estimate - February 2013 Euro area annual inflation down to 1.8%

STAT/13/30

1 March 2013

Flash estimate - February 2013
Euro area annual inflation down to 1.8%

Euro area1 annual inflation2 is expected to be 1.8% in February 2013, down from 2.0% in January3, according to a flash estimate4 from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy (4.0% compared with 3.9% in January) is expected to have the highest annual rate in February, followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.7% compared with 3.2% in January), services (1.6%, stable compared with January) and non-energy industrial goods (0.8%, stable compared with January).

Euro area annual inflation and its components, %

Source: Eurostat e = estimate p = provisional

1. The euro area consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

2. Annual inflation is the change of the price level between the current month and the same month of the previous year. For further information on the euro area inflation flash estimate, see the Statistics Explained article on the Eurostat website:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Inflation_in_the_euro_area

1. See News Release 29/2013 of 28 February 2013.

2. The euro area inflation flash estimate is issued at the end of each reference month. The complete set of harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) for the euro area, EU and Member States is released around the middle of the month following the reference month. The next release with full data for February 2013 is scheduled for 15 March 2013.

Eurostat News Releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Selected Principal European Economic Indicators: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euroindicators