by KG/EUROPA Euro area annual inflation was 0.4% in July 2014, down from 0.5% in June. This is the lowest annual inflation rate since October 2009. In July 2013 the rate was 1.6%. Monthly inflation was -0.7% in July 2014. European Union annual inflation was 0.6% in July 2014, down from 0.7% in June. A year earlier the rate was 1.7%. Monthly inflation was -0.5% in July 2014. These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In July 2014, negative annual rates were observed in Bulgaria (-1.1%), Greece (-0.8%), Portugal (-0.7%), Spain (-0.4%) and Slovakia (-0.2%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Austria (1.7%), Romania (1.5%) and Luxembourg (1.2%). Compared with June 2014, annual inflation fell in thirteen Member States, remained stable in six and rose in eight. The largest upward impacts to euro area annual inflation came from restaurants & cafés (+0.08 percentage points), rents (+0.06 pp) and maintenance of vehicles (+0.05 pp), while fruit (-0.13 pp), vegetables and telecommunications (-0.11 pp each) had the biggest downward impacts.