Estonia keeps eurozone's lowest inflation rate in August

Estonia held onto its position as the eurozone country with the lowest inflation rate in August, marking the second consecutive month it has topped the list in this way, according to preliminary estimates released by Eurostat on September 1.

Annual consumer price growth in Estonia stood at 1.3% in August, down from 2% in July. Meanwhile, inflation across the eurozone as a whole picked up noticeably, rising from 2.9% in July to 3.3% in August. The main driver was a sharp increase in energy prices, which rose 14.3% year-on-year, compared with 10.3% the previous month.

Lowest and highest rates

Estonia's price growth in August was considerably lower than elsewhere in the eurozone. Malta was the only other country where inflation stayed under 2%, at 1.9%. Every other eurozone member recorded inflation above 2.4%.

The highest inflation rates among eurozone countries were registered in Lithuania at 5.8%, followed by Cyprus at 5.2%, Bulgaria at 5.1%, and Spain at 4.5%.

Prices excluding energy

Excluding energy, annual inflation in the eurozone stood at 2.2%. Service prices rose 3%, industrial goods excluding energy rose 1.2%, and food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose 1.2%.

Eurostat is scheduled to publish final August inflation figures for both the eurozone and the European Union on September 17.