According to the UK's Office for National Statistics the Consumer Price Index annual inflation rate in Great Britain was measured at 2.7% in April with a 0.5% rise in consumer prices, slightly higher increase than expected. The increase is largely attributed to the rising price of airfare, clothing, vehicle excise taxes, and electricity. In another report by the Office for National Statistics, factory output prices have continued to rise in April 2017 by 0.4%, while input prices rose 0.1%. The annual factory output inflation rate remained at 3.6% while the annual growth rate for input prices fell to 16.6% (a decrease from January's high of 19.9%).
Eurostat reported today that seasonally-adjusted GDP rose by 0.5% in both the euro area and the EU28. Annual growth measured 1.7%. Of the euro area countries, Finland reported the highest level of growth at 1.6% with Spain growing at 0.8%, Germany at 0.6%, and France at 0.3%. The Italian National Institute of Statistics reported modest growth in the Italian economy for the first quarter of 2017, underperforming most other Euro Zone countries. The country's GDP rose 0.2% in the first quarter while the annual growth dropped to 0.8% from 1%. The Italian economy is being pushed forward by domestic demand while it still struggles to gain momentum.