In September 2011, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.3%), Sweden (1.5%) and the Czech Republic (2.1%), and the highest in Estonia (5.4%) and Lithuania (4.7%). Compared with August 2011, annual inflation fell in seven Member States, remained stable in five and rose in fourteen.
The lowest 12-month averages up to September 2011 were registered in Ireland (0.6%), Sweden (1.6%), the Czech Republic and Slovenia (both 1.9%), and the highest in Romania (6.9%) and Estonia (5.2%).
Euro area
The main components with the highest annual rates in September 2011 were transport (5.9%), housing (5.0%) and alcohol & tobacco (3.7%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-1.9%), recreation & culture (0.5%) and household equipment (1.3%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.55 percentage points), heating oil (+0.19) and electricity (+0.12) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.16), vegetables (-0.11) and rents (-0.10) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (14.1%), education (1.0%), household equipment and alcohol & tobacco (both 0.5%), while the lowest were recreation & culture (-1.1%), hotels & restaurants (-0.8%) and communications (-0.3%). In particular, garments (+0.64 percentage points) and footwear (+0.16) had the largest upward impact, while package holidays (-0.15), accommodation services (-0.12) and air transport (-0.09) had the biggest downward impacts.
