EU annual inflation up in April to 2%

Annual inflation in the EU was 2% in April, up from 1.7% in March, the bloc's statistical office said on Wednesday.

The figure for the same month last year was 0.7%, according to Eurostat.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.6% last month, also up from 1.3% compared to March, while it was 0.3% a year earlier.

The eurozone/euro area, or EA19, represents member states that use the single currency-euro-while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

In April, the biggest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (0.96 percentage point), followed by services (0.37 pp), food, alcohol and tobacco (0.16 pp), and non-energy industrial goods (0.12 pp).

Compared with March, annual inflation in April fell in three member states, remained stable in one, and rose in 23.

The countries with the lowest inflation rates were Greece (-1.1%), Portugal (-0.1%), and Malta (0.1%).

On the other hand, the highest annual rates were seen in Hungary (5.2%), Poland (5.1%), and Luxembourg (3.3%), according to Eurostat data.