Eurozone inflation subsided towards the European Central Bank's self-imposed 2 per cent limit in April, according to data published today.
The findings bear out the bank's predictions of abating price pressures.
Consumer prices in the 12-nation bloc rose by 2.2 per cent in April compared with a year earlier, according to an early estimate by the European Union's statistics office that was in line with economists' expectations.
That is a step in the right direction from the 2.5 per cent inflation rate reported for March and will be welcome news for the inflation-fighting ECB ahead of its May 2nd policy meeting when it is expected to leave interest rates unchanged.
A separate report showed euro zone retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.5 per cent in February compared with a month earlier and climbed 1.3 per cent from the same period a year ago - nearly double the year-on-year increase expected by analysts.
A breakdown showed Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Finland, and The Netherlands all had a monthly increase in the volume of sales.
However, the picture was less upbeat in some of the euro zone's largest economies, with sales unchanged in Italy and declining 0.1 per cent from the previous month in Germany.
The European Union's statistics office also said the euro zone jobless rate was unchanged at 8.4 per cent in March.