Euro area inflation jumps to 2.7 percent in March

[News_Editor]

Euro area inflation jumps to 2.7 percent in March

2011-04-15 19:20:40 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- Annual inflation in the 17-country euro area was 2.7 percent in March, which represents a 0.3 percent increase from February's 2.4 percent, and a 1.1 percent increase compared to the 1.6 percent a year before, the European Union (EU) said Friday.

The data was released by EU's statistical office, Eurostat, and is much higher than the European Central Bank's target of holding inflation under 2 percent. According to the report, monthly inflation was 1.4 percent in March.

The report also showed that in the 27-Member State EU, annual inflation was 3.1 percent in March, up from February's 2.9, and well above the 2 percent, which was registered a year earlier. Monthly inflation was 1.1 percent.

According to Eurostat's data, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.2 percent), Sweden (1.4 percent) and the Czech Republic (1.9 percent), and the highest in Romania (8.0 percent), Estonia (5.1 percent), Bulgaria and Hungary (both 4.6 percent).

Compared with February, annual inflation rose in eighteen Member States, remained stable in five and fell in four.

The lowest 12-month averages up to March were registered in Ireland (-0.8 percent), Latvia (0.7 percent) and the Netherlands (1.3 percent), and the highest in Romania (6.8 percent), Greece (5.0 percent) and Hungary (4.3 percent).

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