Eurozone inflation slows to 8.5% in February

The euro area’s annual inflation rate slowed to 8.5% in February from 8.6% in the previous month, with the food component registering the largest increase in prices (15%), according to an operational estimate released by Eurostat this Thursday .

In February, the annual inflation rate slowed down for the fourth consecutive month from 8.6% in January, but remained at a level well above the February 2022 level of 5.9%, according to the European Union Statistics Service.

The decrease in inflation rates in the energy component (from 18.9% in January to 15.5% in February) has been maintained since November last year, but, on the other hand, the food, alcohol and tobacco components continue to show growth in sectoral inflation, reaching 15.0 %, compared with 14.1% in January.

Without the components of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, the euro area’s annual inflation rate in February would have been 5.6%, according to an estimate.

In February, among the 20 countries with a common currency, the highest annual inflation rates, measured by the harmonized consumer price index (HICP), were observed in Latvia (20.1%), Estonia (17.8%) and Lithuania (17.2%). ).

On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in Luxembourg (4.8%), Belgium (5.5%) and Spain (6.1%).

In Portugal, the inflation rate measured by HICP remained stable at 8.6% from January to February.

The inflation rate in the Eurozone started to pick up in June 2021, mainly due to rising energy prices, and reached the highest level since November 2021, peaking at 10.6% in October 2022, with the first decline recorded in November last year.

The HICP measures inflation on a comparable basis across the EU, so data are provided for those countries as well as for the euro area and the EU as a whole.