Estonia once again tops eurozone annual inflation table at 6.2 percent
Estonia once again had the highest on-year inflation rate in the euro area, according to Eurostat's August flash estimate.
Inflation in Estonia rose by 0.6 percentage points to 6.2 percent on year to August.
Estonia has posted the eurozone's highest rate of inflation every month for the past year; in August it was followed by Croatia with a rate of 4.6 percent, and Slovakia at 4.4 percent.
Of neighboring countries, the inflation rate for Latvia was 4.1 percent, with Lithuania at 3.6 percent and Finland posting a rate of 2.2 percent, according to the Eurostat estimate.
France saw the lowest positive inflation rate in the euro area at 0.8 percent, while Cyprus experienced deflation on year, of 0.1 percent.
Across the euro area the average rate of inflation was 2.1 percent in August, up by 0.1 percent on the previous month.
The main drivers of price rises across the bloc came in food and tobacco goods, which saw a 3.2 percent growth in prices in August, followed closely by services at 3.1 percent. Prices of industrial goods rose by 0.8 percent, while energy prices in the eurozone fell by 1.9 percent.
Twenty of the EU27 member states use the euro. The countries which have retained a national currency are: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Estonia joined the euro on January 1, 2011.
More detailed information on the Eurostat August flash estimate is here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: BNS, Eurostat
