EU annual inflation remains stable in March

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The annual inflation rate in the EU was 1.6% in March, the union's statistical office said on Wednesday.

Eurostat said the 28-member bloc's annual inflation rate remained unchanged in March, compared to the previous month.

In the third month of 2019, annual inflation decreased in six member states, remained stable in two, and rose in 19, versus February.

"The lowest annual rates were registered in Portugal (0.8%) and Greece (1.0%)," Eurostat said.

The statistical office noted that the highest annual figures were seen in Romania (4.2%), Hungary (3.8%) and the Netherlands (2.9%).

"The highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (0.52 percentage points), followed by services (0.51), food, alcohol & tobacco (0.34) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.04)," it said.

Since 2008, the lowest annual inflation rate in the EU was in January 2015 at minus 0.5% -- when prices were in fact dropping -- and the highest was seen in July 2008, at 4.4%.