Portugal had in November also recorded the lowest annual inflation rate, along with Italy, at 0.2%. In December, it had the lowest rate among the 17 euro-zone countries for which Eurostat has estimates already available.

There are not yet data for December from Estonia and Austria. The full figures are to be published on 17 January.

The highest annual rates of inflation in December were in Slovakia (3.2%), the Netherlands (2.8%) and Lithuania (2.7%).

According to the Eurostat release, of the main components of inflation in the euro area, the rate for food, alcohol and tobacco is thought to have been the highest in December (2.0%), followed by services (1.8%).