Euro Area’s Annual Inflation Slipped To 0.8% In December While Euro Zone’s Figure Stayed Stable

Annual inflation in December in the euro area slipped to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent in November, and down from 2.2 percent a year ago, according to official data from Eurostat released Thursday.

Annual inflation in the euro zone held steady at 1 percent compared to November, but was down from 2.3 percent in the same period last year.

Monthly inflation was 0.3 percent in both the euro area and the euro zone in December.

In December, the lowest annual rates were observed in Greece (-1.8 percent), Cyprus (-1.3 percent), Bulgaria (-0.9 percent) and Latvia (-0.4 percent), and the highest rates were seen in Estonia, Austria and the United Kingdom (all 2.0 percent) and Finland (1.9 percent).

Compared with November 2013, annual inflation fell in nine member states, remained stable in four and rose in 14 member states.

The lowest 12-month average rates up to December 2013 were registered in Greece (-0.9 percent), Latvia (0.0 percent), Bulgaria, Cyprus, Portugal and Sweden (all 0.4 percent), and the highest in Estonia and Romania (both 3.2 percent), the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (both 2.6 percent).

Consumer price inflation, or CPI, measures the change in the price of goods and services from the consumer’s perspective, and it’s a crucial measure of demand trends in an economy.