Bulgaria’s annual inflation, measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), slowed to 4.4% in July from 5.2% in June, revised Eurostat data showed on August 19.

The figure was above Eurostat’s preliminary estimate of 4.1% published last month, but marked a second consecutive monthly decline. Bulgaria’s HICP inflation had reached 6.3% in May, its highest level in the euro zone.

Bulgaria, which adopted the euro on January 1, remained among the currency bloc’s countries with the fastest price growth in July, matching Cyprus at 4.4%. Only Romania, at 8.2%, and Lithuania, at 5.4%, recorded higher rates.

On a monthly basis, Bulgarian consumer prices rose 0.6% in July, the fourth-highest increase in the European Union.

Eurostat’s data showed annual inflation in the euro zone rose to 2.9% in July from 2.8% in June, while EU inflation increased to 3.0% from 2.9%.

Bulgaria’s national CPI measure, published by the National Statistical Institute on August 17, showed annual inflation slowing to 4.5% in July (chart), from 5.4% in June and 6.9% in May.