Inflation in Greece saw a slight decline in February, settling at 3%, down from 3.1% in January, according to data from the European Union’s statistical authority, EUROSTAT.
In the eurozone, inflation stood at 2.4% in February, compared to 2.5% the previous month.
Examining the main components of inflation in the eurozone, services recorded the highest annual rate in February (3.7%, down from 3.9% in January), followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco (2.7%, up from 2.3%), non-energy industrial goods (0.6%, up from 0.5%), and energy, which remained at 0.2%.
In contrast to inflation in Greece, France experienced its lowest level of CPI in four years. According to the national statistics agency Insee, consumer prices rose by just 0.9% year-on-year in February, down from 1.8% in January.
According to Eurostat’s previous report, in January, services recorded the highest annual inflation rate in the eurozone at 3.9%, slightly down from 4.0% in December.
Following closely were food, alcohol, and tobacco at 2.3% (from 2.6% in December), energy at 1.8% (up from 0.1%), and non-energy industrial goods, which remained stable at 0.5%.
In the previous January report, data indicated that Greece’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.9% annually in December, slightly down from 3% in November, while prices saw a marginal 0.1% increase on a monthly basis.
Core inflation—which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices—held steady at 2.7% annually across the eurozone.
The slowdown in inflation in the eurozone’s second-largest economy was more pronounced than expected, as analysts had projected a 1.1% increase.
The European Central Bank (ECB) expects inflation to reach its 2% target by 2025. While the ECB is widely expected to cut interest rates by another 25 basis points in its upcoming meeting on Thursday—marking the sixth consecutive reduction—markets and analysts point to strong divisions over the central bank’s future rate decisions.
