The euro zone inflation rate for September announced on Thursday was revised downwards, leaving it further below the European Central Bank's 2% target and the lowest level since April 2021.
Eurostat said annual consumer price inflation was just 1.7% last month. This is down from preliminary figures of 1.8% released two weeks ago and well below the 2.2% recorded in August.
Across the euro area, services inflation fell to 3.9% from 4.1% in the previous month, while energy prices fell by 6.1% from a 3.0% decline in the previous month.
The ECB is widely expected to cut interest rates later on Thursday following a sharp slowdown in inflation and concerns about Germany's economy.
Research director Kathleen Brooks said: “The ECB has little choice but to cut interest rates. The German economy continues to show signs of struggling. Investor confidence in Germany was weaker than expected this week, with many eurozone “Inflation levels in the economy are extremely low.” At XTB.
Inflation slowed to 0% in Ireland, while lower annual rates were also recorded in Lithuania (0.4%), Slovenia and Italy (both 0.7%), Eurostat said.
In other news, Eurostat also announced that the eurozone trade surplus in August fell to its lowest level since April 2023.
The trade balance remained at 4.6 billion euros, down from 19.7 billion euros in July and well below market expectations of 17.8 billion euros due to lower exports.
