Eurozone inflation figures see drop in August, edging nearer to ECB 2% target

A week after the ECB cut rates in the eurozone, the final inflation data confirms that prices increased at the slowest pace in three years in August, just as Euronews reported previously.

Eurostat data shows that annual inflation was 2.2% last month down from 2.6% in July. In contrast, the rate for the same time last year was 5.2%. In the EU, prices increased by 2.4% in August compared with last year, down from 2.8% in July. The rate was 5.9% for the same month last year. 

Within the eurozone, prices showed the smallest increase in Lithuania (0.8%), Latvia (0.9%), Ireland, Slovenia and Finland (all 1.1%). The highest annual inflation rates were recorded in Romania (5.3%) and Belgium (4.3).

In August, services pushed inflation up the most in the eurozone, with the sector showing a 1.8% increase in prices, while food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose by 0.46%. Energy prices, on the other hand, fell by 0.29%.

Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, was 2.8%, down from 5.3% on the same time last year and heading towards the ECB's 2% target.