The annual inflation rate of the euro zone had a strong decline in March, up to 6.9%, and that of the European Union (EU) slowed down to 8.3%, according to data released this Wednesday by Eurostat .
In the Eurozone, the inflation rate fell from 7.4% in the same period or compared to 8.5% in February.
In the EU, the annual inflation rate fell from the value of February (9.9%), but remained above the same period (7.8%).
In March, according to the EU statistical service, the largest contribution to the annual inflation rate in the euro area came from the food, alcohol and tobacco sector (3.12 percentage points, pp), followed by services (+2, 10 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+1.71 pp) and energy (-0.05 pp).
The lowest inflation rates, measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), were registered in Luxembourg (2.9%), Spain (3.1%) and the Netherlands (4.5%) and the most high, on the contrary, were observed in Hungary (25.6%), Latvia (17.2%) and the Czech Republic (16.5%).
Compared to February, year-on-year inflation fell in March in 25 Member States and increased in Slovenia and Malta.
Portugal registered the fifth highest year-on-year inflation rate, measured by the HICP, the indicator used for comparisons at the European level, with 8%, compared to 5.5% in March 2022 and 8.6% in February.
The inflation rate in the euro area began to accelerate in June 2021, mainly due to the rise in energy prices, and reached record values since November 2021, registering a peak of 10.6% in October 2022, registering the first setback last November.
Source: TSF
