Cyprus’ annual inflation rate reaches 4.1% in January

Cyprus’ annual harmonized inflation for January 2008 reached 4.1%, according to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.Euro area annual inflation was 3.2% in January 2008, compared to 3.1% in December 2007. A year earlier, the rate was 1.8%. Monthly inflation was -0.4% in January 2008.
EU annual inflation was 3.4% in January 2008, up from 3.2% in December 2007. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was -0.2% in January 2008.
In January 2008, the lowest annual rates were recorded in the Netherlands (1.8%), the United Kingdom (2.2%), Germany and Portugal (both 2.9%), and the highest in Latvia (15.6%), Bulgaria (11.7%) and Estonia (11.3%). Compared with December 2007, annual inflation rose in twenty-one Member States, remained stable in two and fell in four.
The lowest 12-month averages up to January 2008 were registered in Malta (0.9%), the Netherlands (1.6%), Denmark, France, Finland and Sweden (1.8% each), and the highest in Latvia (10.8%), Bulgaria (8.0%) and Hungary (7.8%).
The main components with the highest annual rates in January 2008 were education (9.4%), transport (5.7%) and food (5.4%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-2.9%), recreation & culture (0.1%) and clothing (0.5%).
Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.54 percentage points), heating oil (+0.22) and milk, cheese & eggs (+0.21) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.19), garments (-0.14) and cars (-0.12) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were food (1.1%), housing and health (both 1.0%), and the lowest were clothing (-9.3%), recreation & culture (-2.2%) and hotels and restaurants (-0.3%).
In particular, gas (+0.08 percentage points), restaurants and cars (+0.07) and fuels for transport (+0.06) had the largest upward impacts, while garments (-0.51), package holidays (-0.19) and footwear (-0.11) had the biggest downward impacts.