In April 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Sweden (1.0%), Greece (1.5%), Ireland and Romania (both 1.9%), and the highest in Hungary (5.6%), Estonia (4.3%), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 4.0%). Compared with March 2012, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States and rose in ten.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to April 2012 were registered in Sweden (1.2%), Ireland (1.5%) and Slovenia (2.2%), and the highest in Estonia (4.8%), Hungary (4.4%) and Slovakia (4.2%).
Euro area
The main components with the highest annual rates in April 2012 were alcohol & tobacco (4.7%), transport (4.3%) and housing (3.9%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-3.1%), education (0.7%) and recreation & culture (0.8%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.34 percentage points), gas (+0.12), tobacco and electricity (+0.08 each) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.18), cars and rents (-0.07 each) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (2.3%), transport (0.8%) and hotels & restaurants (0.6%), while the lowest monthly rates were observed for communications (-0.7%), education (-0.2%) and food (0.0%). In particular, garments (+0.10 percentage points) and fuels for transport (+0.05) had the largest upward impacts, while telecommunications and vegetables (-0.04 each) had the biggest downward impacts.
