Euro zone inflation nudged above 2009 lows in April but fell short of economists’ predictions despite increased spending at Easter, leaving the threat of deflation hanging over the European Central Bank.

Annual consumer inflation in the 18 countries sharing the euro was 0.7 per cent in April, climbing from March’s 0.5 per cent, which was the lowest since late 2009, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said today.

Economists had predicted 0.8 per cent in April. But both figures are still within the ECB’s danger zone of below 1 per cent, reflecting the poor state of the economy after a long recession and with unemployment at near-record levels. April’s reading takes inflation back to where it was in February but it is well below 1.2 per cent of April 2013.

It also leaves the ECB in a difficult position when it holds its next policy meeting on May 8th because of lack of a clear up-tick in consumer prices.

While April improved because of a smaller fall in energy prices, the pace of price rises in food, alcohol and tobacco was lower than the month before, meaning Europeans are unwilling to spend while economic growth remains so fragile.

Reuters