Inflation dipped slightly last month compared to May, but it was still way above the EU average, figures issued this morning show.

Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, said euro areas annual inflation dropped to -0.1 percent in June from 0 percent in May.

In Malta, the NSO said annual inflation was 2.8%, down from 3.4% in May , the highest in the euro area.

The NSO said that in June the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices went down to 111.63 from 111.72 in May 2009. This primarily reflected a decrease of 1.6 per cent in the food and non-alcoholic beverages Index mainly due to price decreases in vegetables.

The transport index went down by 0.8 percent mainly on account of lower air fares. Lower prices of spirits caused the alcoholic beverages and tobacco index to go down by 0.1 percent.The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index went down by 0.1 percent mainly due to lower rents charged to tenants.

Higher prices of accommodation services caused the restaurants and hotels index to go up by 1.3 percent. Seasonal price rises in garments caused the clothing and footwear index to go up by 0.3 percent. Upward shifts in the prices of certain jewellery underlay an increase of 0.3 percent in the miscellaneous goods and services index.

In June, the 12-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 4.3 percent, whereas the
annual rate of inflation stood at 2.8 percent.