Euro area annual inflation stable at -0.3%

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be -0.3% in November 2020, stable compared to October according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in November (1.9%, compared with 2.0% in October), followed by services (0.6%, compared with 0.4% in October), non-energy industrial goods (-0.3%, compared with -0.1% in October) and energy (-8.4%, compared with -8.2% in October).

Geographical information
The euro area consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The euro area data refer to the country composition at a specific point in time. Changes in the composition of the euro area are incorporated using a chain index formula.

Methods and definitions
Annual inflation is the change of the price level between the current month and the same month of the previous year. Monthly inflation is the change of the price level between the current month and the previous month.

Data collection for HICP has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis in all euro area countries. Eurostat and the Member States’ national statistical institutes have agreed a set of procedures to estimate prices that could not be collected due to mobility restrictions or closures of outlets. All information about these procedures is available on the Eurostat website section on inflation.