BRUSSELS – Harmonized annual inflation in Cyprus, the Eurozone and the EU dropped in February, according to data issued on Friday by Eurostat.

Inflation in Cyprus dropped to 1.8% compared to 2% in January.

Euro area annual inflation was 1.8% in February 20132, down from 2% in January. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%. Monthly inflation was 0.4% in February 2013.

European Union3 annual inflation was 2.0% in February 2013, down from 2.1% in January. A year earlier the rate was 2.9%. Monthly inflation was 0.4% in February 2013.

In February 2013, the lowest annual rates were observed in Greece (0.1%), Portugal (0.2%) and Latvia (0.3%), and the highest in Romania (4.8%), Estonia (4.0%) and the Netherlands (3.2%). Compared with January 2013, annual inflation fell in seventeen Member States, remained stable in three and rose in six.

The lowest 12-month average rates up to February 2013 were registered in Greece (0.7%), Sweden (0.9%) and Latvia (1.8%), and the highest in Hungary (5.2%), Estonia (4.1%) and Romania (3.8%).
The largest upward impacts to euro area annual inflation came from electricity (+0.17 percentage points), fruit and tobacco (+0.07 each), while telecommunications (-0.22), medical & paramedical services (-0.08) and garments (-0.07) had the biggest downward impacts.

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