It may not matter much in the aftermath of deep pay cuts, big tax hikes and slashed pensions, but Greece at least has the European Union’s lowest inflation rate, a mark of 0.3 percent recorded in December, 2012 and down from 0.4 percent the month before, according to data released by Eurostat in Brussels.
Inflation in the Eurozone remained unchanged at 2.2%, while a year ago it hit 2.7%. Within the EU, the inflation rate fell from 2.4% to 2.3%, compared to 3 percent last year. After Greece, the lowest rate was in Sweden with 1.1%, followed by Cyprus and France with 1.5%, while the highest rates were in Hungary at 5.1%, Romania with 4.6% and Estonia with 3.6%.
In comparison to November, the inflation rate fell in 11 Member states, remained stable in four and rose in eleven states. There are no data for Ireland.
The biggest annual increases in prices within the Eurozone during December were observed in tobacco products and alcoholic beverages (3.6%) in housing costs (3.45%) in food and education (3% in both cases), at the same time that the lowest rates were recorded in the prices of telecommunications services (-3.8%), in household equipment (1%) and in leisure and cultural services (1.2%).
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