Euro area annual inflation up to 2.8 percent in April

Euro area annual inflation up to 2.8 percent in April

2011-05-16 21:19:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Union on Monday informed that the annual inflation of the Euro area was up to 2.8 percent in April; higher than the expected 2 percent.

The percentage in the EU Member States registered a 0.1 percent increase from the rate recorded in March (2.7 percent). In addition, annual inflation was 1.2 percent up from the rate in the same period in 2010 (1.6 percent).

The data was released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This year, the inflation rate has been way off target from the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of holding inflation under 2 percent.

According to the report, monthly inflation was 0.5 percent in April 2011. The lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.5 percent), the Czech Republic (1.6 percent) and Sweden (1.8 percent).

In contrast, the highest percentages were registered in Romania (8.4 percent), Estonia (5.4 percent), Lithuania and Hungary (both 4.4 percent). Overall, annual inflation rose in sixteen Member States, remain stable in two and fell in eight.

An annual rate measures the price change between the current month and the same month of the previous year. This measure is responsive to recent changes in price levels but can be influenced by one-off effects in either month.

A 12-month average rate overcomes this volatility by comparing average Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICPs) in the latest 12 months to the average of the previous 12 months.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-16