Eurozone inflation eases to 2.1%

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone inflation eased in October, official data showed on Wednesday, in line with expectations. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the annual inflation rate was 2.1%, compared to 2.2% in September.

Across the wider bloc, inflation eased to 2.5% from 2.6% a month previously.

Driving inflation was the services sector, where prices rose 1.54 percentage points, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco - up 0.48pp - and a 0.66pp rise in non-industrial goods.

Energy prices were largely static, down just 0.08pp.

Among individual countries, France and Italy had some of the lowest rates, Eurostat noted, with the HICP of 0.8% and 1.3% respectively.

All Eurozone countries use the harmonised index of consumer prices, to allow for meaningful comparisons across the bloc.

In Germany, the EU's largest economy, inflation eased to 2.3% from 2.4%.

In contrast, it rose in Spain to 3.2%, from 3% in September.