In October 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Greece (0.9%), Sweden (1.2%) and Latvia (1.6%), and the highest in Hungary (6.0%), Romania (5.0%) and Estonia (4.2%). Compared with September 2012, annual inflation fell in thirteen Member States, remained stable in four and rose in ten.
The lowest 12-month averages up to October 2012 were registered in Sweden (0.9%), Greece (1.4%) and Ireland (1.9%), and the highest in Hungary (5.5%), Estonia (4.3%) and Poland (4.0%).
Euro area
The main components with the highest annual rates in October 2012 were transport (4.1%), alcohol & tobacco and housing (both 4.0%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-3.5%), recreation & culture (1.0%), clothing and household equipment (both 1.2%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.32 percentage points), heating oil (+0.10) and electricity (+0.09) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.19), cars (-0.08) and garments (-0.07) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing and education (both 2.2%) followed by alcohol & tobacco (0.9%), while the lowest monthly rates were observed for transport (-0.6%), communications (-0.4%), recreation & culture and hotels & restaurants (both -0.3%). In particular, garments (+0.10 percentage points), footwear, vegetables and tobacco (+0.03 each) had the largest upward impacts, while fuels for transport (-0.13), accommodation services (-0.05) and package holidays (-0.04) had the biggest downward impacts.
