Inflation in the euro area slowed in February to 2.4% thanks to a slowdown in energy price growth, official data show.

Inflation last month slowed from 2.5% in January but turned out to be higher than the 2.3% forecast by analysts at financial data company FactSet.

It reached 1.7% in September, its lowest level in three and a half years, but has risen above the European Central Bank's 2% target again since October, AFP reported.

The data will support the ECB's view that price pressures will ease this year as it prepares to cut interest rates again on March 6.

Core inflation - which excludes volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices and is a key indicator for the ECB - also slowed to 2.6% in February from 2.7% in January, in line with experts' expectations.

This will be a welcome fall after core inflation remained steady at 2.7% since September last year.

The ECB has shifted its focus from fighting inflation to boosting the economy of the 20-member single currency area after sluggish growth over the past two years.

In the fourth quarter of last year, the eurozone economy grew by just 0.1%.

Inflation has fallen sharply from a record high of 10.6% reached in October 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to a sharp rise in energy prices.

But risks to the European economy remain after US President Donald Trump threatened the EU with higher tariffs and uncertainty over Ukraine's future.

The outlook for the eurozone's two largest economies, Germany and France, looks bleak for 2025 as the single currency area falls further behind the US and China. | BGNES