Euro area annual inflation was 3.3% in April 2008, down from 3.6% in March. A year earlier the rate was 1.9%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in April 2008.

EU annual inflation was 3.6% in April 2008, down from 3.8% in March. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.4% in April 2008, the Statistical Office of the European Communities reported. 

Inflation in the EU Member States

In April 2008, the lowest annual rates were observed in the Netherlands (1.7%), Portugal (2.5%) and Germany (2.6%), and the highest in Latvia (17.4%), Bulgaria (13.4%) and Lithuania (11.9%). Compared with March 2008, annual inflation rose in eight Member States, remained stable in four and fell in fifteen.

The lowest 12-month averages4 up to April 2008 were registered in the Netherlands (1.7%), Malta (1.9%), Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom (2.2% each), and the highest in Latvia (13.0%), Bulgaria (10.1%) and Estonia (8.8%).

Euro area

The main components with the highest annual rates in April 2008 were food (6.0%), housing and transport (4.8% each), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-1.6%), recreation & culture (-0.4%) and clothing (0.8%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.41 percentage points), heating oil (+0.25), milk, cheese & eggs (+0.24) and bread & cereals (+0.16) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while cars (-0.16), telecommunications (-0.15) and garments (-0.14) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (2.5%), housing (0.6%) and food (0.5%), and the lowest were recreation & culture (-1.6%), communications (-0.1%) and education (0.1%). In particular, garments (+0.11 percentage points), footwear (+0.04), heating oil, gas, vegetables and fuels for transport (+0.02 each) had the largest upward impacts, while package holidays (-0.13), gardens, plants & flowers, accommodation services and telecommunications (-0.02 each) had the biggest downward impacts.