Eurozone consumer price index falls 0.1% in September

The Eurozone's annual consumer price index fell 0.1% in September compared to a 0.1% increase in August, Eurostat's flash estimate revealed on Wednesday.

Analysts had been expecting zero growth this month and the unexpected dip puts pressure on the European Central Bank to do more to lift inflation towards its target of just below 2%. The ECB has said it would extend its quantitative easing programme if the outlook for inflation remained weak.

"The return of inflation to negative territory in the euro-zone will heap additional pressure on the ECB to up the scale of its asset purchase programme," said Jack Allen, European economist at Capital Economics.

September's decline was driven by a 8.9% fall in energy prices, which marked a greater decrease than the previous month's 7.2%. Food, alcohol and tobacco, on the other hand, registered the highest annual rate in September up 1.4%, compared to August's 1.3%.