Inflation in the eurozone slowed to 2.2% in annual terms in August, according to the final report of Eurostat. This decrease compared to July's 2.6% inflation coincided with the preliminary estimate and forecasts of analysts. On a monthly basis, prices in the region increased by 0.1%. The CPI Core index (core inflation), which does not take into account volatile prices for energy, food and alcohol, showed an increase of 2.8% year-on-year. Prices for food, alcohol and tobacco products increased by 2.3%, similar to the July figure. Energy prices, on the contrary, decreased by 3% after rising by 1.2% in July. Services have risen in price by 4.1%. In the 27 EU countries, the annual price increase was 2.4% after 2.8% in July. The lowest inflation was recorded in Lithuania (0.8%), Latvia (0.9%), Ireland, Slovenia and Finland (1.1%). The highest growth in consumer prices was recorded in Romania (5.3%), Belgium (4.3%) and Poland (4.0%). In Germany, annual inflation fell to 2.0% from 2.6% in July, in France — to 2.2% from 2.7% a month earlier, in Italy — to 1.2% from 1.6% in July, in Spain — to 2.4% after 2.9% a month earlier.
