ISTANBUL

Euro area annual inflation rate fell to 1.7% in January, down from 2% in December, official data showed on Wednesday.

The figure stood at 2.5% in the same month of the previous year, according to Eurostat.

The EU annual inflation also dropped to 2% in January from 2.3% in December.

France registered the lowest annual rate at 0.4% while Denmark followed at 0.6% and Finland and Italy both saw 1%.

Romania recorded the highest annual rate at 8.5% followed by Slovakia at 4.3% and Estonia at 3.8%.

Annual inflation fell in 23 Member States, remained stable in one, and rose in three compared with December.

Services provided the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate at plus 1.45 percentage points.