Euro area annual inflation was 0.9% in December 2009, up from 0.5% in November. A year earlier the rate was 1.6%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December 2009. The annual average rate of inflation in 2009 was 0.3%, down from 3.3% in 2008.

EU annual inflation was 1.4% in December 2009, up from 1.0% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in December 2009. The annual average rate of inflation in 2009 was 1.0%, down from 3.7% in 2008.

Inflation in the EU Member States

In December 2009, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (-2.6%), Estonia (-1.9%) and Latvia (-1.4%), and the highest in Hungary (5.4%), Romania (4.7%) and Poland (3.8%). Compared with November 2009, annual inflation rose in twenty Member States, remained stable in four and fell in two.

The lowest 12-month averages up to December 2009 were registered in Ireland (-1.7%), Portugal (-0.9%) and Spain (-0.3%), and the highest in Romania (5.6%), Lithuania (4.2%), Hungary and Poland (both 4.0%).

Euro area

The main components with the highest annual rates in December 2009 were alcohol & tobacco (4.8%), transport (3.5%) and miscellaneous goods & services (2.4%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for food (-1.3%), communications (-0.8%) and housing (-0.3%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.42 percentage points) and tobacco (+0.13) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while gas (-0.33) and cars (-0.10) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were recreation & culture (2.0%) and hotels & restaurants (1.0%), while the lowest were clothing (-0.5%) and communications (-0.2%). In particular, package holidays (+0.18 percentage points) and accommodation services (+0.08) had the largest upward impacts, while fuels for transport and garments (-0.05 each) had the biggest downward impacts.