Eurozone inflation continues to decrease: Eurostat

The inflation rate in the eurozone is expected to decrease by 0.3 percent in September year-on-year, down from minus 0.2 percent in August, according to a flash estimate released on Friday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), reported Xinhua.

Among the main components, food, alcohol and tobacco are expected to have the highest annual rate in September at 1.8 percent, along with services at 0.5 percent and non-energy industrial goods at minus 0.3 percent. Energy is expected to have a record minus 8.2 percent annual rate, down from minus 1.8 percent in September 2019.

The annual rate for services dropped from 1.5 percent in 2019 to 0.5 percent this year.

The lowest estimated annual inflation rates were in Greece (minus 2.3 percent), Cyprus (minus 1.9 percent) and Estonia (minus 1.3 percent), and the highest in Slovakia (1.5 percent), the Netherlands (1.0 percent) and Lithuania (0.6 percent).

Data collection for Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis in all eurozone countries, Eurostat said.