Eurozone prices were flat year-on-year in April, ending four months of falls, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat confirmed yesterday.

Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2 per cent month-on-month in April for a zero per cent year-on-year reading, confirming its earlier estimate.

Core inflation, which excludes the most volatile components of unprocessed food and energy, rose 0.2 per cent month-on-month for a 0.7 per cent year-on-year increase. It had initially estimated the year-on-year rise at 0.6 per cent.

Eurostat said that in April, more expensive restaurants and cafes, rents and vegetables had the biggest upward impact on the overall year-on-year inflation value, while cheaper gas, heating oil and automotive fuel pulled the index down.

The ECB expects eurozone inflation to stay close to zero until autumn of this year, before starting to rise towards the end of the year towards 1.5 per cent and reach the ECB’s target of two per cent towards the end of 2016.