Malta, along with The Netherlands, registered one of the lowest annual inflation rates at 1.6 per cent for the month of October among all EU member states, according to the latest statistics issued by Eurostat.

Denmark and Finland closely followed with 1.8 per cent inflation during October, while the highest rates were registered in Latvia (13.2 per cent), Bulgaria (10.6 per cent), and Estonia (8.7 per cent).

Malta had also one of the lowest 12-month average inflation rate until October 2007 at 0.3 per cent, followed by France (1.4 per cent), and Denmark, Finland and Sweden (1.5 per cent).

During October, the components with the highest annual rates were education (9.5 per cent), transport (4.1 per cent) and food (3.8 per cent).

The lowest rates were registered for communications (2.1 per cent) and clothing (1.1 per cent).

The euro area annual inflation rose from 2.1 per cent in September to 2.6 per cent in October. A year earlier the rate was 1.6 per cent. Monthly inflation was 0.5 per cent in October 2007.

The Euro area annual inflation was 2.6 per cent in October, up from 2.1 per cent in September. The EU annual inflation was 2.7 per cent in October, up from 2.2 per cent in September.