Greece in crisis: Inflation drop the biggest since November 2013
Interactive: Inflation rates in every EU economy
Greece’s negotiations with the European establishment have collapsed and the country's inflation rate is going in the same direction.
It hasn’t just crossed the threshold, it’s been in deflation for a while, but the drop in prices was steeper than expected: a 2.8 per cent reverse year-on-year represents the biggest drop since November 2013.
A poll of economists by Bloomberg showed a consensus of a 2.7 per cent fall, which would still have been faster than December’s 2.6 per cent drop. The European Central Bank has a target of just below two per cent, and its monetary policy is partly geared towards achieving that level.
Greece isn’t the only European country where prices are falling. Some 17 EU countries were in a deflation environment in December, as our interactive charts show. Even the UK, considered to be in ruder health than many European Union allies, had a rate of just 0.3 per cent in January, below the Bank of England’s mandated target of two per cent.