Annual inflation falls to 2.5% in December

Consumer prices in December, as measured by the CPI, decreased by 0.1% in the month. This compares to an increase of 0.1% in December of last year and, as a result, the annual rate of inflation fell to 2.5%, down from 2.6% in November.

The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) fell by 0.2%, compared with an increase of 0.1% in December 2004. The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the HICP, fell from 2.2% in November to 1.9% in December.