Eurozone annual inflation up in June

ANKARA, 18 July 2018 [Fik/News Sources]: Consumer prices in the euro area (EA19) rose 2 percent on a yearly basis in June, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat reported on Wednesday.

The annual inflation rate in the euro area climbed 0.7 percentage points in June, compared to 1.3 percent in the same month last year, while the figure among EA19 countries was 1.9 percent in May.

"The lowest annual rates were registered in Ireland (0.7 percent), Greece (1 percent) and Denmark (1.1 percent)," Eurostat said.

"The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.7 percent), Estonia (3.9 percent) and Hungary (3.2 percent)."

"In June 2018, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (up 0.76 percentage points)," the agency said, followed by services (up 0.57 percentage points), food, alcohol and tobacco (up 0.53 percentage points) and non-energy industrial goods, up 0.10 percentage points.

According to the official data, the annual inflation rate in the European Union, including all 28 member countries, was 2 percent in June -- no change compared with the previous month -- while the figures was 1.5 percent in the same month last year.

"Compared with May 2018, annual inflation fell in three-member states, remained stable in two and rose in twenty-two," it added, noting the data from the U.K. was not available for June.

Over the last decade, the highest annual inflation rate in the EU was seen in July 2008, up 4.4 percent. The lowest was in January 2015, at minus 0.5 percent, when prices were in fact dropping.