28/2004 -
Flash estimate
February 2004
Euro-zone
inflation estimated at 1.6%
Euro-zone1 annual inflation2 is
expected to be 1.6% in February 2004 according to a flash estimate issued today
by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of
the European Communities. It was
1.9% in January 20043.
Computation of flash estimates
The euro-zone inflation is measured by the Monetary Union Index of
Consumer Prices (MUICP). To compute the MUICP flash estimates, Eurostat uses early
price information relating to the reference month from Member States for which
data are available as well as early information about energy prices.
The estimation procedure for the MUICP flash estimate issued today
combines historical information with partial information on price developments
in the most recent months to give a total index for the euro-zone. No detailed
breakdown is available. Simulations have shown the procedure to be reliable (14
times exactly anticipating the inflation rate, 9 times differing by 0.1 and once
differing by 0.2, in April 2002, over the last two years). Further information
can be found in Eurostat News Release 113/2001,
Future release dates
Provisional publication dates for the coming months
are:
Index for |
MUICP flash estimates |
News release
on MUICP, EICP and |
February 2004 |
- |
|
March 2004 |
|
|
April 2004 |
|
18 May 2004 |
1.
The Member States participating in the euro-zone are
Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland.
2.
Annual inflation is the price change between the
current month and the same month of the previous year.
3.
See News Release 27/2004 of
Issued by:
Eurostat Press Office
Philippe BAUTIER
L-2920 LUXEMBOURG
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
Fax: +352-4301-35 349
eurostat-pressoffice@cec.eu.int
For further information on data:
Carsten OLSSON
Tel: +352-4301-33 375
Fax: +352-4301-33 989
Eurostat News Releases on the Internet:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/
Eurostat Data Shop Network
List of addresses:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/
Data Shop Services /List of Data Shops