Inflation rate decreases to 2.4% in Portugal and the eurozone in February.
In February, the inflation rate fell to 2.4% in both Portugal and the euro area. This value contrasts with the 2.6% of the same period and the 2.5% of January.
Inflation rate drops 0.1 percentage points in February.
In the euro area, the annual inflation rate slowed to 2.4% in February. According to what is read in the Notícias ao Minuto, Eurostat "foresees that the services sector will present the highest year-on-year rate in February (3.7%, compared to 3.9% in January), followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco (2.7%, compared to 2.3% in January), non-energy industrial products (0.6%, compared to 0.5% in January), and energy (0.2%, compared to 1.9% in January)."
Regarding core inflation, which excludes more volatile items such as alcohol and processed food, it was 2.6% in February (compared to 2.7% in January and 3.1% in the same month last year).
The countries in the euro area with the highest year-on-year inflation rates, measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), in February were in Estonia (5.0%), Croatia (4.7%), and Belgium (4.4%). The lowest were recorded in France (0.9%), Ireland (1.3%), and Finland.
In Portugal, the inflation rate also dropped to 2.4%, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shared on Notícias ao Minuto. (https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/economia/2737502/precos-taxa-de-inflacao-tera-caido-para-2-4-em-fevereiro)
The year-on-year variation rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 0.1 percentage points lower compared to January.
"The indicator of underlying inflation (total index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) will have recorded a variation of 2.4% (2.7% in the previous month). The variation of the index for energy products decreased to 1.5% (2.4% in the previous month) and the variation of the index for unprocessed food products increased to 2.4% (1.8% in January 2025)," the news reads.
The IPC had an average variation of 2.5% in the last 12 months (2.4% in the previous month). And the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (IHPC) in Portuguese had a year-on-year variation of 2.4% (2.7% in the previous month).
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