Eurozone1 annual inflation was 1.8% in July 20072 , down from 1.9% in June. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was -0.2% in July 2007.
EU3 annual inflation was 2.0% in July 2007, down from 2.1% in June. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was -0.3% in July 2007.
These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union.
Inflation in the EU Member States
In July 2007, the lowest annual rates were observed in Malta (-0.2%), Denmark (1.1%), France and Slovakia (1.2% each), and the highest rates in Latvia (9.5%), Hungary (8.3%) and Bulgaria (6.8%). Compared with June 2007, annual inflation rose in twelve Member States, remained stable in two and fell in thirteen.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to July 2007 were in Malta (0.7%), Finland (1.3%) and France (1.4%); the highest were in Latvia and Hungary (7.5% each) and Bulgaria (5.5%).
Eurozone
The main components with the highest annual rates in July 2007 were education (9.1%), hotels & restaurants (3.4%) and alcohol & tobacco (3.3%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-1.7%), clothing (0.1%) and recreation & culture (0.3%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, restaurants & cafés (+0.12 percentage points), education and tobacco (+0.07 each) had the largest upward impact on the headline rate, while fuels for transport and telecommunications (-0.11 each), IT equipment, audio-visual equipment, heating oil and garments (-0.07 each) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were hotels & restaurants and recreation & culture (1.2% each) and transport (0.6%), and the lowest were clothing (-8.2%), household equipment (-0.3%), food and miscellaneous (-0.1% each). In particular, package holidays (+0.14 percentage points) and accommodation services (+0.10) had the largest upward impact, while garments (-0.45) and footwear (-0.11) had the biggest downward impacts.
1. Eurozone inflation is measured by the MUICP (’Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices’ as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995) which is the official euro area aggregate. The euro area initially included Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Greece was included from 1 January 2001, and Slovenia from 1 January 2007. New Member States are integrated into the MUICP using a chain index formula.
2. The MUICP flash estimate for July 2007, published on 31 July 2007, was 1.8%.
3. EU inflation is measured by the EICP (’European Index of Consumer Prices’ as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995) which is the official EU aggregate. The EU included 15 Member States until 30 April 2004, 25 Member States from 1 May 2004 until 31 December 2006 and 27 Member States from 1 January 2007. Bulgaria and Romania have been Member States of the EU since 1 January 2007 and have been included in the calculation of the EU inflation since January 2007. New Member States are integrated into the EICP using a chain index formula.
