BRUSSELS-- March 2012 annual inflation in Cyprus recorded an increase compared to February.

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, annual inflation in Cyprus rose in March at 3.5% compared to 3.1% in February.

The Euro area annual inflation was 2.7% in March 2012, unchanged compared with February. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%.

Monthly inflation was 1.3% in March 2012. EU annual inflation was 2.9% in March 2012, unchanged compared with February. A year earlier the rate was 3.1%. Monthly inflation was 1.1% in March 2012.

In March 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Sweden (1.1%), Greece (1.4%) and Bulgaria (1.7%), and the highest in Hungary (5.5%), Estonia (4.7%) and the Czech Republic (4.2%).

Compared with February 2012, annual inflation fell in fourteen Member States, remained stable in four and rose in eight.

The lowest 12-month averages up to March 2012 were registered in Sweden (1.3%), Ireland (1.4%) and Slovenia (2.1%), and the highest in Estonia (4.9%), Romania (4.6%) and Hungary (4.3%).