Euro area annual inflation was 2.5% in August 2011, unchanged compared with July. A year earlier the rate was 1.6%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in August 2011.

EU annual inflation was 2.9% in August 2011, unchanged compared with July. A year earlier the rate was 2.0%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in August 2011.

These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Inflation in the EU Member States

In August 2011, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.0%), Slovenia (1.2%) and Greece (1.4%), and the highest in Estonia (5.6%), Latvia (4.6%) and the United Kingdom (4.5%). Compared with July 2011, annual inflation fell in thirteen Member States, remained stable in two and rose in twelve.

The lowest 12-month averages4 up to August 2011 were registered in Ireland (0.4%), Sweden (1.6%), the Czech Republic and Slovenia (both 1.9%), and the highest in Romania (7.3%) and Estonia (5.1%).

Euro area

The main components with the highest annual rates in August 2011 were transport (5.6%), housing (4.9%) and alcohol & tobacco (3.1%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for clothing (-2.8%), communications (‑1.8%) and recreation & culture (0.4%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.52 percentage points), heating oil (+0.18) and electricity (+0.14) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while garments (-0.27) and telecommunications (-0.14) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (1.8%) and health (0.5%), while the lowest were food and education (both -0.2%). In particular, garments (+0.09 percentage points) had the largest upward impact, while vegetables (-0.05) and fruit (-0.04) had the biggest downward impacts.