MADRID, 1 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The inflation rate in the euro zone stood at 2.8% year-on-year in January, one tenth below the 2.9% rise in prices at the end of 2023, according to preliminary data published by the community office of statistics, Eurostat.

In the first month of 2024, the year-on-year fall in energy prices moderated to 6.3% from the 6.7% drop in December, while food became more expensive by 7%, two tenths more than the month former.

For its part, the annual increase in the cost of services remained at 4%, while the increase in the price of non-energy industrial goods slowed to 2%, half a percentage point less than in December.

In this way, the euro zone inflation rate when discounting the impact of energy was 3.8%, compared to 4% in December 2023, while also excluding food, alcohol and tobacco, the core rate fell to 3.3% from 3.4%, its lowest level since March 2022.

Among the euro countries, the highest inflation rates in January were observed in Estonia (5%), Croatia (4.8%) and Austria and Slovakia (4.3% in both), while the lowest price increases corresponded to Finland (0.7%), Italy (0.9%), Latvia and Lithuania (1% in both).

In the case of Spain, the harmonized inflation rate stood at 3.5% in January, widening the unfavorable price differential for the country with respect to the eurozone average to seven tenths.