Euro zone inflation picked up to 2% in February after slowing to 1.9% the previous month, with higher prices for petroleum products the leading culprit, preliminary data released today by the EU's statistics arm Eurostat showed.
The figure, on a 12-month basis, was an estimate based on information provided by four euro zone members, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain along with the trend in global oil prices.
In January, inflation dropped to 1.9% on an annual basis from 2.4% in December, moving below the European Central Bank's medium-term ceiling of 2% for the first since March 2004.
But in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, inflation rose to 1.8% in February from 1.6% the previous month, largely because of a bigger than expected increase in home heating fuel.
Belgian inflation hit an annual 2.5% in February, up from 2.2% on higher prices for petrol and fresh foods. In Spain, however, 12-month inflation fell to 3.3% in February, from 3.5% the previous month.
For the full 12-member euro zone, the bump higher in February was expected, but also temporary, according to analysts.
