In the Euro Area, producer prices rose by 0.8 percent in January compared to the previous month. The European Statistical Office (Eurostat) released the Producer Price Index (PPI) data for the European Union (EU) and the Euro Area in January. According to the data, both the EU and the Euro Area saw a 0.8 percent increase in PPI in January compared to the previous month, and a 1.8 percent rise compared to the same month last year. Market expectations were that PPI in the Euro Area would increase by 0.3 percent monthly and 1.4 percent annually. Among EU countries, PPI saw the highest monthly increases in Ireland with 6.2 percent, Bulgaria with 5.4 percent, and Sweden with 2.3 percent in January. Monthly PPI declined by 2.2 percent in Portugal, 0.6 percent in Austria, and 0.5 percent in Slovenia in January. On an annual basis, PPI rose by 14.9 percent in Ireland, 14.4 percent in Bulgaria, and 6.4 percent in Denmark in January, while it decreased by 5.3 percent in Lithuania, 4.7 percent in Luxembourg, and 4.5 percent in Estonia.