Annual inflation up to 1.3% in the euro area (0.8% in Spain)

The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.3% in December 2019, up from 1.0% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.5%. European Union annual inflation was 1.6% in December 2019, up from 1.3% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6%. These figures have been published today, 17 January 2020, by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Lowest vs highest annual rates

The lowest annual rates were registered in Portugal (0.4%), Italy (0.5%) and Cyprus (0.7%), followed by Denmark and Spain (0,8%).

The highest annual rates were recorded in Hungary (4.1%), Romania (4.0%), Czechia and Slovakia (both 3.2%).

Compared with November, annual inflation fell in two Member States, remained stable in three and rose in twenty-three.

In December, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.80 percentage points, pp), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.38 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+0.12 pp) and energy (+0.02 pp)

Geographical information

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).

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