The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.3% in June 2019, up from 1.2% in May. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0%. European Union annual inflation was 1.6% in June 2019, stable compared to May. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1%. Inflation in Cyprus was 0.3% in June up form 0.2% in May. A year earlier the same rate was 1.7%, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat reports that the lowest annual rates were registered in Greece (0.2%), Cyprus (0.3%), Denmark and Croatia (both 0.5%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (3.9%), Hungary (3.4%) and Latvia (3.1%). Compared with May, annual inflation fell in seventeen Member States, remained stable in one and rose in nine. In June, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.73 percentage points, pp), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.30 pp), energy (+0.17 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.07 pp).
Meanwhile in May 2019 compared with April 2019, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector decreased by 0.3% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28, according to first estimates from Eurostat. In April 2019, production in construction decreased by 1.7% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU28. In May 2019 compared with May 2018, production in construction increased by 2.0% in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU28.
In Cyprus production in construction increased by 3.4% in Q1 2019 in quarrterly basis, after falling by -0.2% in Q4 2018 and rising by 2.0% in Q1 2018. In annual basis, production in construction increased by 12.8% in Q1 2019, after 15.2% in Q4 2018 and 13.4% in Q1 2018.
In the euro area in May 2019, compared with April 2019, civil engineering fell by 0.8% and building construction by 0.3%. In the EU28, civil engineering fell by 0.5% and building construction by 0.2%. Among Member States for which data are available, the largest decreases in production in construction were recorded in Romania (-7.6%), Finland (-3.1%) and Sweden (-2.9%). The highest increases were observed in Slovenia (+4.1%), France (+1.9%) and the Netherlands (+1.4%).
In the euro area in May 2019, compared with May 2018, civil engineering increased by 2.3% and building construction by 2.0%. In the EU28, civil engineering rose by 4.7% and building construction by 2.0%. Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases in production in construction were observed in Hungary (+26.2%), Romania (+23.8%) and Slovenia (+11.1%). Decreases were recorded in Finland (-1.6%) and Belgium (-1.5%).
(Cyprus News Agency)
