BRUSSELS: Eurozone inflation fell to 0.8 percent in December from 0.9 percent in November, official data showed on Thursday amid concerns that falling prices could undermine growth prospects.
Inflation has fallen steadily in recent months as the eurozone's recovery from a record deep recession has faltered, with the economy growing a marginal 0.1 percent in third quarter 2013 after 0.3 percent in the second.
In December 2012, inflation in the 17-member eurozone was at 2.2 percent but it fell to a four-year low of 0.7 percent in October.
The Eurostat statistics agency figures were unchanged from its first estimate given earlier this month.
December inflation in the full 28-member European Union was unchanged at 1.0 percent, Eurostat said.
lnternational Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde warned on Wednesday that while growth in the global economy was picking up, there were "rising risks" of deflation.
The global economy is growing below its potential rate of 4.0 percent, Lagarde noted, which means inflation is muted but opens up the risk of deflation or outright falls in prices.
"With inflation running below many central banks' targets, we see rising risks of deflation, which could prove disastrous for the recovery," Lagarde said warning against undue haste by central banks to wind down easy-money policies.
"Global growth is still too low, too fragile, and too uneven."
Tough EU government austerity policies to combat the debt crisis have sucked demand out of the economy, pushing inflation way below the European Central Bank's target of close to 2.0 percent.
Deflation -- falling prices in real terms -- can encourage consumers to put off buying goods in the expectation that if they wait, they will become cheaper.
That in turn weakens the economy as companies reduce output accordingly, hitting employment and demand, thereby setting off a downward spiral.
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