The inflation rate in the European Union decreased to 8.3 percent in March from the February value of 9.9 percent, the lowest since last May, according to the European statistical office Eurostat. In the Czech Republic, inflation fell to 16.5 percent from 18.4 percent in February, roughly double the EU average.
Eurostat also confirmed its earlier estimate that the inflation rate in the eurozone fell to 6.9 percent in March. In February, the rate was 8.5 percent in countries using the euro. Month-on-month, prices in the EU and the eurozone rose by 0.9 percent.
Last March, EU inflation was 7.8 percent, while it was 7.4 percent in the eurozone.
Luxembourg had the lowest unemployment rate in March at 2.9 percent, followed by Spain at 3.1 percent and the Netherlands at 4.5 percent.
On the other hand, Hungary had the highest inflation rate at 25.6 percent, followed by Latvia at 17.2 percent, and then the Czech Republic. Compared to February, annual inflation decreased in 25 EU countries and increased in the remaining two.
In the eurozone, food, alcohol, and tobacco contributed the most to the year-on-year inflation rate in March, accounting for 3.12 percentage points. It was followed by services (+2.10 percentage points), non-energy industrial goods (+1.71 percentage points), and energy (-0.05 percentage points).