Euro Area inflation rate confirmed at 2.6% in February

The annual inflation rate in the Euro Area was confirmed at 2.6% in February, final data by Eurostat showed on Monday.

It has been the lowest rate since November 2023, but it was still above the European Central Bank’s 2% inflation objective.

In February, energy prices went down 3.7% year-on-year compared with a 6.1% slump in January.

Last month, price increases moderated for food, alcohol & tobacco (up 3.9% YoY versus 5.6% YoY in January).

Meanwhile, services inflation remained stable at 4% in February.

Annual core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile categories such as food and energy, was also confirmed at 3.1% in February. It has been the lowest core inflation rate since March 2022.

In month-over-month terms, consumer prices in the Euro Area rose 0.6% in February, following a 0.4% decrease in the previous month.

The Euro was last 0.11% firmer against the US Dollar on Monday, with the EUR/USD currency pair trading at 1.0899. The major Forex pair has rebounded from a one-week low of 1.0873.