Eurozone inflation eases to 2.8% in June

Eurostat reported that the annual consumer‑price inflation rate in the euro area fell to 2.8% in June, a 0.4‑percentage‑point drop from May and the slowest rise since March. The broader European Union recorded a 2.9% rate. The slowdown reflected an 8.5% year‑on‑year increase in energy prices, down from 10.8% in May, and a 3.1% rise in fresh‑food prices, compared with a 4% increase the month before. Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, decelerated to 2.4% from 2.6%. Among EU members, the lowest annual rates were in Sweden (1%), the Czech Republic (1.1%) and Denmark (1.8%), while the highest were in Romania (9.2%), Lithuania (5.4%) and Bulgaria (5.2%). Spain’s harmonised inflation remained at 3.6%, higher than the euro‑zone average and above Germany (2.4%), France (2.0%) and Italy (3.0%).