According to figures released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, euro zone annual inflation was 2.4% in July, down from 2.5% in June. The July 2005 rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was -0.1% in July.

EU25 annual inflation was 2.4% in July, level with the June figure. The July 2005 rate was 2.1%. EU25 monthly inflation was -0.1% in July.

The lowest annual rates in July were observed in Poland and Finland (both 1.4%), the Netherlands and Sweden (both 1.8%), and the highest rates in Latvia (6.9%), Slovakia (5%), Estonia (4.5%) and Lithuania (4.4%). Compared with June, annual inflation rose in eleven member states, remained stable in four and fell in ten.

The main components with the highest monthly rate were recreation and culture and hotels and restaurants (both 1.1%), and the lowest were clothing (-7.1%) and household equipment (-0.3%). In particular, package holidays (+0.13 percentage points) and fuels for transport (+0.10) saw the largest upward impact, while garments (-0.42) and footwear (-0.10) had the biggest downward impact.