ZAGREB, March 18, 2020 – The annual inflation rate in the EU and euro area was down slightly in February while the inflation rate in Croatia was the same as the euro area average, shows a report released by the European statistical office on Wednesday.
In the EU-27 the annual inflation rate measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in February was 1.6%, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than in January.
In the euro area the inflation rate was 1.2%, down by 0.2 percentage points compared to January.
The highest year-on-year price rise in the euro area was recorded for fresh food (+2.6%).
In February, the largest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from the services sector (+0.72 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (+0.41 pp), and non-energy industrial goods (+0.13 pp).
The highest annual rates were recorded in Hungary (4.4%), Poland (4.1%) and Czechia (3.7%).
The annual inflation rate in Croatia in February was 1.2%. In January the inflation rate in Croatia was 1.8%, Eurostat’s figures show.
Germany, which is Croatia’s important trade partner and the largest euro area economy, recorded an inflation rate of 1.7% while Slovenia had an inflation rate of 2%.
The lowest annual rates were registered in Italy (0.2%), Greece (0.4%) and Portugal (0.5%).
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