Annual inflation in the eurozone was 1.7% in July 2010, up from 1.4% in June (-0.6% in July 2009). EU annual inflation was 2.1% in July 2010, up from 1.9% in June (0.2% in July 2009), according to data published by Eurostat in mid-August.

In July 2010, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (-1.2%), Latvia (-0.7%) and Slovakia (1.0%), and the highest in Romania (7.1%), Greece (5.5%) and Hungary (3.6%). The lowest 12-month averages up to July 2010 were in Ireland (-2.4%), Latvia (-1.8%) and Portugal (0%), and the highest in Hungary (5.1%), Romania (4.8%) and Poland (3.3%).

The main components with the highest annual rates, in July 2010, were transport (4.5%), alcohol and tobacco (3.3%) and housing (2.7%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-0.8%), recreation and culture (-0.3%) and household equipment (0.5%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.48 percentage points), heating oil (+0.17) and tobacco (+0.07) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.09) and cars (-0.07) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were recreation and culture (1.2%), hotels and restaurants (1.1%) and transport (0.5%), while the lowest were clothing (-9.7%) and household equipment (-0.6%). Package holidays (+0.15 percentage points) and accommodation services (+0.11) had the largest upward impacts, while clothing (-0.51) and footwear (-0.12) had the biggest downward impacts.