Eurozone inflation eased in December, official data showed on Wednesday, thanks to a faster decline in energy costs.
Consumer price increases fell to 2.0% last month – in line with the European Central Bank’s target – from 2.1% in November.
The December reading was also in line with forecasts of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and FactSet.
The data will reinforce the ECB’s view that inflation is in check after the bank decided to keep interest rates unchanged again in December.
Following a year-long series of cuts, the central bank for the countries that use the euro has kept its benchmark deposit rate at 2% since July.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, also slowed to 2.3% in December from 2.4% in November.
Energy costs fell by 1.9% in December, a significantly larger drop than the 0.5% decline recorded in November, Eurostat data showed.
But food, alcohol and tobacco price rises accelerated to 2.6% last month from 2.4% in November.
Consumer price rises in Germany and France, the EU’s biggest economies, also slowed in December to 2.0% and 0.7% respectively, Eurostat said.
(vib)