The Czech Republic’s consumer price inflation moderated unexpectedly in February to the lowest level in more than nine years, preliminary data from the Czech Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.

Consumer prices climbed 1.4 percent year-over-year in February, slower than the 1.6 percent increase in January. Economists were looking for a stable increase of 1.6 percent.

Further, this was the weakest inflation rate since October 2016, when prices rose only 0.8 percent.

The annual price growth in food, alcohol, and tobacco softened to 0.4 percent from 1.3 percent, while the decline in energy prices eased slightly to 7.8 percent from 7.9 percent.

Data showed that inflation based on services slowed to 4.5 percent from 4.7 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged down 0.1 percent, while prices were expected to rise by 0.1 percent.

The final data for the month of February will be published on March 10.

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