Portugal has second lowest inflation rate in EU in December

The year-on-year inflation rate in the European Union (EU) was 5.3% in December, reports Eurostat on Thursday, confirming the 5% rate in the euro zone, both new highs, with Portugal registering the second lowest (2.8%).

In the eurozone, the year-on-year inflation rate reached the 5% barrier, a new maximum since the beginning of the series in 1997, up from 4.9% in November and -0.3% in December 2020, confirming the estimate of the European statistics service.

In the EU, the upward trend in prices also continued, comparing the 5.3% of December 2021 with 5.2% in the previous month and 0.3% year-on-year.

The lowest inflation rates were observed in Malta (2.6%), Portugal (2.8%) and Finland (3.2%) and the highest in Estonia (12%), Lithuania (10.7%) and Poland (8.0%).

Compared to November 2021, year-on-year inflation fell in seven Member States, was stable in two and increased in the other 18, including Portugal.

It should also be noted that all the Member States have year-on-year inflation rates above 2% for the second consecutive month.

In July, the European Central Bank (ECB) informed that its new strategy contemplates a symmetrical inflation target of 2% in the medium term, a more flexible goal, allowing for temporary and moderate deviations.

The inflation target set by the ECB until now was a rate slightly below, 2%.