Annual inflation in April this year in the Eurozone remained unchanged as compared to March at 0.6%. In April 2008 inflation had amounted to 3.3 %. The monthly inflation rate in April reached 0.4 %. In the EU27 annual inflation in April amounted to 1.2 % (March: 1.3 %) following 3.6 % last year. Monthly inflation in the EU27 was 0.3% in April.
Annual inflation in April 2009 was lowest in Ireland (-0.7 %), Portugal (-0.6 %) and Luxemburg (-0.3 %) and highest in Romania (6.5 %), Latvia and Lithuania (5.9 % in both countries). As compared to March 2009 annual inflation fell in fifteen member states, remained unchanged in four and increased in seven.
The lowest twelve-month average inflation rate up to April this year was registered in Portugal (1.6 %), Ireland (1.9 %) and Germany (2.0 %) and the highest in Latvia (12.4 %), Lithuania (10.0 %) and Bulgaria (9.2 %).
In the Eurozone prices increased most for alcohol and tobacco (3.3 %) as well as for restaurants and hotels (2.6 %). Those fields in which annual inflation was lowest in April were transportation (-3.6 %), communications (-1.6 %), clothing and footwear as well as education and training (0.7 % each).
Those product groups with the highest monthly inflation rates were clothing and footwear (2.8 %), transportation (1.0 %) as well as restaurants and hotels (0.6 %) and those with the lowest inflation rate housing (-0.5 %), foodstuffs (-0.1 %) as well as education and training(0.0 %). Most rose prices for clothing (+0.13 %), fuels for transportation means (+0.12%) as well as footwear (+0.04%) while natural gas was the product for which prices fell particularly significantly (-0.13%). 