The eurozone's annual rate of inflation dipped further than predicted in March, thanks to a continued slowdown in food and drink price increases, official data showed Wednesday.

Consumer price rises in the single currency area slowed to 2.4 percent, from 2.6 percent in February, the EU's statistics agency said. Analysts surveyed by FactSet predicted inflation would remain stable at 2.6 percent while economists asked by Bloomberg expected a smaller drop to 2.5 percent.