Euro zone annual inflation in July stables at 0.2%

The European Union (EU) statistical office Eurostat said here Friday that the euro area annual inflation was 0.2 percent in July, stable compared to June.

According to Eurostat figures, in July 2014 the rate was 0.4 percent in the euro zone. And as to the EU bloc, the annual inflation was 0.1 percent in July, also stable compared to June, whereas a year earlier the rate was 0.5 percent.

Figures showed that in July, negative annual rates were observed in 11 EU member states. The lowest annual rates were registered in Cyprus (-2.4%), Romania (-1.4%) and Greece (-1.3%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Malta (1.2%), Austria (1.1%) and Belgium (0.9%). Compared with June 2015, annual inflation fell in 15 member states, remained stable in four and rose in eight.

The largest upward impacts to euro area annual inflation came from restaurants and cafes, tobacco and rents, while fuels for transport, heating oil and milk, cheese and eggs had the biggest downward impacts.