12/2019 - 17 January 2019

With the release of the January 2019 HICP flash estimate on 1 February, Eurostat will improve the calculation of thespecial aggregates by using more detailed input data and include at the same time the revised index of package holidays for Germany. Related revisions to back data will be implemented with the regular January 2019 release of 22 February.

December 2018

Annual inflation down to 1.6% in the euro area

Down to 1.7% in the EU

The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.6% in December 2018, down from 1.9% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.4%. European Union annual inflation was 1.7% in December 2018, down from 2.0% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7%. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece and Portugal (both 0.6%) and Denmark (0.7%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Estonia (3.3%), Romania (3.0%) and Hungary (2.8%). Compared with November 2018, annual inflation fell in twenty-two Member States, remained stable in three and rose in three.

In December 2018, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.58 percentage points, pp), followed by energy (+0.53 pp), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.34 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.12 pp).

Annual inflation rates (%) in December 2018, in ascending order

4

3.3

2.8 3.0

3

2.2 2.2 2.3 2.5

1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.1

2

1.0 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.6

1 0

0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Greece Portugal Denmark

Ireland

Poland

Croatia

Cyprus Spain Italy Malta

Finland Slovenia Euroarea

Czechia

EU Germany

Austria Lithuania

France Luxembourg Netherlands

Slovakia UnitedKingdom

Belgium

Sweden Bulgaria

Latvia Hungary Romania

Estonia

Inflation rates (%) measured by the HICP

Annual rate

Monthly rate

Dec 17

Jul 18

Aug 18

Sep 18

Oct 18

Nov 18

Dec 18

Dec 18

Euro area

1.4

2.1

2.0

2.1

2.2

1.9

1.6

0.0

EU

1.7

2.2

2.2

2.1

2.2

2.0

1.7

0.0

Belgium

2.1

2.7

2.6

2.8

3.2

2.9

2.2

-0.2

Bulgaria

1.8

3.6

3.7

3.6

3.6

3.0

2.3

0.0

Czechia

2.2

2.2

2.4

2.1

2.0

1.6

1.6

0.0

Denmark

0.8

0.9

0.8

0.5

0.7

0.7

0.7

-0.4

Germany

1.6

2.1

1.9

2.2

2.4

2.2

1.7

0.3

Estonia

3.8

3.3

3.5

3.5

4.5

3.2

3.3

-0.3

Ireland

0.5

1.0

0.9

1.2

1.1

0.8

0.8

-0.1

Greece

1.0

0.8

0.9

1.1

1.8

1.1

0.6

-0.1

Spain

1.2

2.3

2.2

2.3

2.3

1.7

1.2

-0.5

France

1.2

2.6

2.6

2.5

2.5

2.2

1.9

0.1

Croatia

1.3

2.2

2.1

1.6

1.7

1.3

1.0

-0.6

Italy

1.0

1.9

1.6

1.5

1.7

1.6

1.2

-0.1

Cyprus

-0.4

1.4

1.7

1.7

1.9

1.6

1.0

-0.9

Latvia

2.2

2.7

2.8

3.3

3.2

2.9

2.5

-0.3

Lithuania

3.8

2.3

1.8

2.4

2.8

2.4

1.8

-0.5

Luxembourg

1.6

2.5

2.4

2.7

2.8

2.6

1.9

-0.7

Hungary

2.2

3.4

3.4

3.7

3.9

3.2

2.8

-0.4

Malta

1.3

2.1

2.4

2.5

2.1

1.4

1.2

-0.2

Netherlands

1.2

1.9

1.9

1.6

1.9

1.8

1.9

0.0

Austria

2.3

2.3

2.3

2.1

2.4

2.3

1.7

0.1

Poland

1.7

1.4

1.4

1.5

1.5

1.1

0.9

0.0

Portugal

1.6

2.2

1.3

1.8

0.8

0.9

0.6

-0.4

Romania

2.6

4.3

4.7

4.7

4.2

3.2

3.0

0.1

Slovenia

1.9

2.1

2.0

2.2

2.3

2.1

1.4

-0.6

Slovakia

2.0

2.6

2.9

2.7

2.5

2.0

1.9

-0.1

Finland

0.5

1.4

1.4

1.4

1.7

1.4

1.3

-0.2

Sweden

1.7

2.2

2.1

2.5

2.4

2.1

2.2

0.5

United Kingdom

3.0

2.5

2.7

2.4

2.4

2.3

2.1

0.2

Iceland

-1.0

1.9

2.1

1.2

0.9

1.5

2.0

1.9

Norway

1.5

3.5

3.9

3.8

3.6

3.8

3.9

0.0

Switzerland

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.1

1.1

1.0

0.8

0.0

The source dataset is availablehere.

Annual inflation rate (%) in the euro area and the European Union

4

3

2 1 0 -1

Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec Mar Jun Sep Dec

2008 2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Euro area inflation rate (%), selected aggregates

Weight

(‰)

Annual rate

Monthly

rate

2018

Dec 17

Jul 18

Aug 18

Sep 18

Oct 18

Nov 18

Dec 18

Dec 18

All-items HICP

1000.0

1.4

2.1

2.0

2.1

2.2

1.9

1.6

0.0

All-items excluding: > energy

903.0

1.2

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.1

0.4

> energy, unprocessed food

828.2

1.1

1.3

1.2

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.1

0.4

> energy, food, alcohol & tobacco

707.3

0.9

1.1

0.9

0.9

1.1

1.0

1.0

0.5

> energy, seasonal food

862.6

1.2

1.3

1.1

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.1

0.3

> tobacco

976.7

1.3

2.1

1.9

2.0

2.1

1.9

1.5

0.0

Food, alcohol & tobacco

195.7

2.1

2.5

2.4

2.6

2.2

1.9

1.8

0.0

> processed food, alcohol & tobacco

121.0

2.2

2.4

2.4

2.2

2.2

2.0

1.7

-0.2

> unprocessed food

74.8

1.9

2.6

2.5

3.2

2.1

1.8

1.9

0.4

Energy

97.0

2.9

9.5

9.2

9.5

10.7

9.1

5.4

-3.2

Non-energy industrial goods

263.3

0.5

0.5

0.3

0.3

0.4

0.4

0.4

-0.2

Services

443.9

1.2

1.4

1.3

1.3

1.5

1.3

1.3

0.9

Contributions to the euro area annual inflation rate (pp), selected aggregates

Contributions

Dec 17

Jul 18

Aug 18

Sep 18

Oct 18

Nov 18

Dec 18

Food, alcohol & tobacco

0.41

0.49

0.48

0.51

0.42

0.38

0.34

> processed food, alcohol & tobacco

0.27

0.30

0.29

0.27

0.27

0.24

0.20

> unprocessed food

0.14

0.20

0.19

0.24

0.16

0.14

0.14

Energy

0.28

0.89

0.88

0.91

1.02

0.88

0.53

Non-energy industrial goods

0.13

0.12

0.08

0.08

0.11

0.11

0.12

Services

0.54

0.64

0.59

0.57

0.65

0.57

0.58

The full dataset is available in the Eurostat onlinedatabase.

Geographical coverage

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

The European Union includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The euro area and European Union data refer to the respective country compositions at a specific point in time. New Member States are integrated into the aggregates using a chain index formula.

Methods and definitions

The annual rate measures the change of the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) between a month and the same month of the previous year, and the monthly rate compares the indices between the two latest months.

A contribution shows how much of the annual inflation rate comes from a particular component of the HICP. The contributions are calculated according to a method which ensures their additivity (allowing for rounding).

Revisions and timetable

A flash estimate of euro area inflation is issued at the end of each reference month. The euro areaflash estimate forDecember 2018, published on 4 January 2019, was 1.6%.

The next flash estimate of euro area inflation with data for January 2019 is scheduled for 1 February 2019.

For more information

Eurostatwebsite section on inflation Eurostatdatabase section on inflation

EurostatStatistics Explained article on inflation in the euro area Eurostatmetadata on inflation

Eurostat €-indicatorsrelease calendar

Issued by: Eurostat Press Office

For further information on methodology:

Baiba GRANDOVSKA

Tel: +352-4301-33 444eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu

Lenka VALENTA

Tel: +352-4301-33 176estat-hicp@ec.europa.eu

EurostatStatistics

ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

@EU_EurostatMedia requests: Eurostat media support / Tel: +352-4301-33 408 /eurostat-mediasupport@ec.europa.eu

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EUROSTAT - European Union Statistical Office published this content on 17 January 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 January 2019 12:03:10 UTC