Progress has also been reported on the inflation front, where the positive trend begun at the end of 2005 continues. In January 2007, in fact, the Eurozone registered a rate of 1.8%, against 1.9% in the previous month and 2.4% in January 2006: the EU-27 shows a more contained improvement: 2.1% for January (compared with 2.2% in December and 2.3% in January 2006). According to the Eurostat data, the most virtuous countries inflation-wise are Holland (1%), Malta (1.2%) and Finland (1.3%); at the opposite end of the scale are Hungary (8.4%), Latvia (7.1%) and Bulgaria (6.9%): altogether inflation has fallen in 15 states, but increased in 11, while one country remains stable (Lithuania). The sectors that have most contributed to the lowering of the inflation rate are telecommunications, fuels, fashion, entertainment and culture; on the contrary, a significant increase was registered in the sectors of electricity, restaurants and food in general. Over the last twelve months the lowest inflation rates were registered in Poland (1.3%), Finland (1.3%) and Sweden (1.5%); the highest in Bulgaria (7.4%), Latvia (6.5%) and Romania (6.2%).
