Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1456665
4 NEWS 3.3.2022 EURO area annual inflation is expected to be 5.8% in February 2022, up from 5.1% in January according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Looking at the main compo- nents of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in February (31.7%, compared with 28.8% in January), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (4.1%, com- pared with 3.5% in January), non-energy industrial goods (3.0%, compared with 2.1% in January) and services (2.5%, compared with 2.3% in Janu- ary). The euro area consists of Bel- gium, Germany, Estonia, Ire- land, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Neth- erlands, Austria, Portugal, Slo- venia, Slovakia and Finland. The euro area data refer to the country composition at a spe- cific point in time. Changes in the composition of the euro area are incorporat- ed using a chain index formula. Euro area annual inflation up to 5.8% Inflation rates (%) measured by the HICP e estimate Source dataset: prc_hicp_manr Geographical information The euro area consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. Monthly rate Feb 21 Sep 21 Oct 21 Nov 21 Dec 21 Jan 22 Feb 22 Feb 22 Belgium 0.3 3.8 5.4 7.1 6.6 8.5 9.6e 2.2e Germany 1.6 4.1 4.6 6.0 5.7 5.1 5.5e 0.9e Estonia 0.5 6.4 6.8 8.6 12.0 11.0 12.4e 2.1e Ireland -0.4 3.8 5.1 5.4 5.7 5.0 5.7e 0.9e Greece -1.9 1.9 2.8 4.0 4.4 5.5 6.3e 0.9e Spain -0.1 4.0 5.4 5.5 6.6 6.2 7.5e 0.7e France 0.8 2.7 3.2 3.4 3.4 3.3 4.1e 0.8e Italy 1.0 2.9 3.2 3.9 4.2 5.1 6.2e 0.8e Cyprus -0.9 3.6 4.4 4.7 4.8 5.0 5.9e 0.9e Latvia -0.2 4.7 6.0 7.4 7.9 7.5 8.9e 1.8e Lithuania 0.4 6.4 8.2 9.3 10.7 12.3 13.9e 1.7e Luxembourg -0.5 4.0 5.3 6.3 5.4 4.6 7.8e 2.4e Malta 0.1 0.7 1.4 2.4 2.6 4.1 4.3e 0.7e Netherlands 1.9 3.0 3.7 5.9 6.4 7.6 7.2e 0.8e Austria 1.4 3.3 3.8 4.1 3.8 4.5 5.5e 1.3e Portugal 0.3 1.3 1.8 2.6 2.8 3.4 4.4e 0.5e Slovenia -1.1 2.7 3.5 4.9 5.1 6.0 7.0e 1.1e Slovakia 0.9 4.0 4.4 4.8 5.1 7.7 8.2e 0.7e Finland 0.9 2.1 2.8 3.5 3.2 4.1 4.3e 0.5e Annual rate P rovisional estimates indicate that the Gross Domestic Prod- uct (GDP) for 2021 amounted to €14,533.8 million, registering an increase of €1,473.9 million, or 11.3 per cent, when compared to 2020. In volume terms, GDP rose by 9.4 per cent, following the drop of 8.3 per cent registered a year earlier as a result of the pandemic. During 2021, Gross Value Added (GVA) rose by 11.4 per cent in nomi- nal terms and by 9.0 per cent in volume terms, when compared to 2020. e main drivers behind this 9.0 per cent growth were Service activi- ties (NACE Sections G to U), Industry (NACE Sections B to E), and Construc- tion (NACE Section F), with a contri- bution of 8.1 percentage points, 0.6 percentage points, and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. Compared to last year, Service activities increased by 9.6 per cent, Industry by 5.6 per cent and Construction by 5.8 per cent in volume terms. A drop of 0.6 per cent was record- ed in Agriculture and fishing activities. e increase in Services was mainly driven by the following sectors: Trans- portation and storage (37.9 per cent), Information and communication (12.5 per cent), Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcy- cles (11.8 per cent), and Accommoda- tion and food service activities (55.0 per cent)1. Net taxes on products contributed positively towards GDP growth, with an increase of 13.8 per cent in volume terms. The expenditure approach e expenditure approach is another method used to calculate GDP and is derived by adding final consumption expenditure of Households, Non-Prof- it Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) and General government, Gross Capital Formation (GCF) and Net exports. e contribution of domestic demand to the year-on-year GDP growth rate in volume terms was of 7.6 percentage points, of which 4.0 were due to Total final consumption ex- penditure and 3.6 to GCF. External de- mand registered a positive contribution of 1.8 percentage points, with 12.2 per- centage points attributable to exports, and 10.4 percentage points explained by imports. In 2021, Total final consumption ex- penditure witnessed an increase of 6.2 per cent in volume terms. is was the result of an increase in Household ex- penditure of 6.3 per cent, an increase in Government expenditure of 6.1 per cent and an increase of 2.3 per cent in NPISH expenditure. Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) rose by 19.3 per cent in volume terms. is increase was mainly attributable to investment in transport equipment. Exports and imports of goods and ser- vices in volume terms increased by 8.2 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively. The income approach e third approach to measure eco- nomic activity is the income approach, which shows how GDP is distributed among compensation of employees, op- erating surplus of enterprises and taxes on production and imports net of sub- sidies. Compared to 2020, the €1,473.9 mil- lion increase in nominal GDP was the result of a rise in all the sub-compo- nents of the income approach, with an increase of €448.6 million in Compen- sation of employees, €845.1 million in Gross operating surplus and mixed in- come, and €180.3 million in Net taxa- tion on production and imports. Gross National Income (GNI) e GNI differs from the GDP meas- ure in terms of net compensation re- ceipts, net property income receivable and net taxes receivable on production and imports from abroad. Considering the effects of income and taxation paid and received by residents to and from the rest of the world, GNI at market prices for 2021 was estimated at €13,569.1 million. 2021 GDP totalled €14,533.8 million, an increase of €1,473.9m over 2020 2021 GDP: Annual growth in volume terms and contributors to growth