Romania’s inflation, amongst the lowest annual rates

Euro area annual inflation was 2.6 per cent in April 2012, down from 2.7 per cent in March, according with Eurostat. A year earlier the rate was 2.8 per cent. Monthly inflation was 0.5 per cent in April 2012.European Union (EU) annual inflation was 2.7 per cent in April 2012, down from 2.9 per cent in March. A year earlier the rate was 3.3 per cent. Monthly inflation was 0.5 per cent in April 2012.In April 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Sweden (1.0 per cent), Greece (1.5 per cent), Ireland and Romania (both 1.9 per cent), and the highest in Hungary (5.6 per cent), Estonia (4.3 per cent), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 4.0 per cent). Compared with March 2012, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States and rose in ten.The lowest twelve month averages up to April 2012 were registered in Sweden (1.2 per cent), Ireland (1.5 per cent) and Slovenia (2.2 per cent), and the highest in Estonia (4.8 per cent), Hungary (4.4 per cent) and Slovakia (4.2 per cent).The main components with the highest annual rates in April 2012 were alcohol and tobacco (4.7 per cent), transport (4.3 per cent) and housing (3.9 per cent), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-3.1 per cent), education (0.7 per cent) and recreation & culture (0.8 per cent). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.34 percentage points), gas (+0.12), tobacco and electricity (+0.08 each) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.18), cars and rents (-0.07 each) had the biggest downward impacts.The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (2.3 per cent), transport (0.8 per cent) and hotels and restaurants (0.6 per cent), while the lowest monthly rates were observed for communications (-0.7 per cent), education (-0.2 per cent) and food (0.0 per cent). In particular, garments (+0.10 percentage points) and fuels for transport (+0.05) had the largest upward impacts, while telecommunications and vegetables (-0.04 each) had the biggest downward impacts.