[FRANKFURT] Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, slowed fractionally in July with consumer prices rising by just 0.2 per cent year-on-year, final data showed on Tuesday.

In June, the index had risen by 0.3 per cent on a 12-month basis, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

The slowdown was caused by a decline in energy prices, the data showed.

Using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) - the yardstick used by the European Central Bank - inflation in Germany rose by just 0.1 per cent year-on-year in July, the same rate of change as in June and a long way below the ECB's annual inflation target of just below two percent.

The final data confirm a preliminary estimate published at the end of last month.

AFP