Euro area annual inflation was 0.5% in October 2016, up from 0.4% in September. In October 2015 the rate was 0.1%. European Union annual inflation was 0.5% in October 2016, up from 0.4% in September. A year earlier the rate was 0.0%. These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In October 2016, negative annual rates were observed in six Member States.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Bulgaria and Cyprus (both -1.0%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Belgium (1.9%) and Austria (1.4%). Compared with September 2016, annual inflation fell in six Member States, remained stable in one and rose in twenty-one.

The largest upward impacts to euro area annual inflation came from restaurants & cafés (+0.07 percentage points), rents and tobacco (both +0.04 pp), while gas (-0.12 pp), vegetables (-0.06 pp) and milk, cheese & eggs (-0.05 pp) had the biggest downward impacts.