Brussels (EFE).- The lower energy prices reduced inflation in the euro area by 1.6 percentage points in the month of March, up to an interannual rate of 6.9%, according to data published this Wednesday by the office of Community statistics Eurostat, which confirms its preliminary estimate and the upward path of food.
The increase in prices in the European Union as a whole registered an identical decline of 1.6 points to stand at 8.3% in March, compared to the 9.9% observed in the bloc in February of this year.
The pronounced drop in March is mainly explained by lower energy prices compared to March 2022, when they skyrocketed as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Specifically, the price of energy products fell by almost one point in the last year and 2.2 percentage points in the last month.
15.7 increase in processed foods, alcohol and tobacco
On the contrary, processed foods, alcohol and tobacco registered an increase of 15.7%, while the price of unprocessed foods increased by 14.7%, representing increases of three and eight tenths, respectively. .
In turn, the growth in the price of non-energy industrial goods was 6.6%, two tenths less than in February, and that of services grew three tenths to 5.1%.
Inflation in the euro area if energy and food are excluded from the calculation due to their more volatile behavior – a figure that is comparable to the underlying inflation reported by the INE in Spain – stood at 7.5%.
If processed foods, tobacco and alcohol are also excluded, in line with the underlying inflation indicator used by the ECB to make its monetary policy decisions, the data stood at 5.7% in March, one tenth more.
By country, the lowest inflation rates were those registered in Luxembourg (2.9%), Spain (3.1%) and the Netherlands (4.5%), followed by Belgium (4.9%), Greece (5 .4%), Cyprus (6.1%) and France and Finland (both with 6.7%).
Above the average were Ireland (7%), Malta (7.1%), Denmark (7.3%), Germany (7.8%), Portugal (8%), Italy and Sweden (8.1%). %) and Austria (9.2%), while Slovenia (10.4%), Croatia (10.5%), Bulgaria (12.1%) or Romania (12.2%) remain in double digit figures. ).
Finally, the highest inflation rates for the community club in March were those of Slovakia (14.8%), Lithuania and Poland (15.2%), Estonia (15.6%), the Czech Republic (16.5%), Latvia (17.2%) and Hungary (25.6%).
Inflation in the United Kingdom falls slightly to 10.1%
Year-on-year inflation in the United Kingdom fell slightly in March to stand at 10.1%, compared to 10.4% registered in February, as reported by the National Statistics Office (ONS) on Wednesday.
Despite the slight decrease, the rate continues to be above the estimates made by analysts, who had expected a drop to 9.8%, and it continues to be above 10% as the prices of food and beverage products continued to going up.
The index is also still well above the target set by the Bank of England of 2%.
“Inflation eased slightly in March but remains at a high level,” according to ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner.