Euro-zone annual inflation rose from 2.4% in February to 2.5% in March1 2002, Eurostat - the Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg - reports today. A year earlier the rate was also 2.5%.
EU15 annual inflation remained stable at 2.3% between February and March 2002. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. EEA annual inflation remained stable at 2.3% in March 2002.
Inflation in Member States
In March, highest annual rates were in Ireland (5.1%), Greece (4.4%) and the Netherlands (4.3%); lowest rates were in the United Kingdom (1.5%), Austria and Luxembourg (1.7% each).
Compared with February 2002, annual inflation fell in three Member States, rose in seven and remained stable in five. Compared with March 2001, the biggest relative falls were in Luxembourg (3.0% to 1.7%), Portugal (5.1% to 3.3%) and Germany (2.5% to 1.9%); the biggest relative rises were in Sweden (1.7% to 3.0%), the United Kingdom (1.0% to 1.5%) and France (1.4% to 2.2%).
Lowest 12-month averages up to March 2002 were in the United Kingdom (1.4%), France (2.0%), Luxembourg and Austria (2.2% each); highest were in the Netherlands (5.0%), Ireland (4.3%) and Portugal (4.1%). In Switzerland annual inflation fell from 0.7% to 0.5% and in the USA it rose from 1.1% to 1.5%. However, these indices are not strictly comparable with EU harmonized indices.
For detailed information please visit http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/
(source: Eurostat)
