Euro area annual inflation up to 1.4%

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.4% in March 2018, up from 1.1% in February, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in March (2.2%, compared with 1.0% in February), followed by energy (2.0%, compared with 2.1% in February), services (1.5%, compared with 1.3% in February) and non-energy industrial goods (0.2%, compared with 0.6% in February).

The latest statistics for Malta were published for February 2018. According to the NSO the annual rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) was registered at 0.98 per cent, up from 0.87 per cent in January 2018.

The twelve-month moving average rate for February decreased to 1.24 per cent, from 1.30 per cent in the previous month

The largest upward impact on annual inflation was recorded in the Food Index (0.32 percentage points), mainly reflecting higher prices of restaurant services and the like (including take-aways and cafeterias). The largest downward impact was recorded in the Clothing and Footwear Index (-0.21 percentage points), attributed to lower prices of garments.

Source Eurostat, National Statistics Office Malta