EURO ZONE ANNUAL INFLATION DOWN TO 2.5 PER CENT

Euro zone annual inflation was 2.5 per cent in July 2011, down from 2.7 per cent in June, European Union statistics office Eurostat said on August 17 2011.

A year earlier, in the euro zone the rate was 1.7 per cent.

Monthly inflation was -0.6 per cent in July 2011.

EU annual inflation was 2.9 per cent in July 2011, down from 3.1 per cent in June. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 per cent. Monthly
inflation was -0.5 per cent in July 2011.

In July 2011, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (one per cent), Slovenia (1.1 per cent) and Sweden (1.6 per cent), and
the highest in Estonia (5.3 per cent), Romania (4.9 per cent) and Lithuania (4.6 per cent).

Compared with June 2011, annual inflation fell in 16 EU member states, remained stable in two and rose in nine.  

The lowest 12-month averages  up to July 2011 were registered in Ireland (0.3 per cent),  Sweden (1.6 per cent), the  Czech
Republic  and the  Netherlands (1.9 per cent each), and the highest in  Romania (7.6 per cent),  Estonia (4.9 per cent) and  Greece
(4.3 per cent).

Eurostat said that Bulgaria's annual inflation in July 2011 was 3.4 per cent.