The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth accelerated last month, confirming experts' forecasts and preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, core inflation stabilized in July.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.6% per year, as expected, after an increase of 2.5% per year in June. European Union annual inflation was 2.8% in July, up from 2.6% in June.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index remained unchanged, confirming economists' forecasts, and reaching a 6-month low. In June, the CPI rose by 0.2%.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 2.9% per year, as expected, after a similar increase in June.
The data also showed that the largest contribution to the annual inflation was made by services (+1.82%), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.45%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.19%) and energy (+0.12%).
The lowest annual rates were registered in Finland (0.5%), Latvia (0.8%) and Denmark (1.0%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (5.8%), Belgium (5.4%) and Hungary (4.1%). Compared with June, annual inflation fell in nine Member States, remained stable in four and rose in fourteen.