Inflation in the eurozone accelerated to 2.6% in May

According to the final data from the statistical office of the European Union, consumer prices in the eurozone increased by 2.6% year-on-year in May. This indicator coincided with the preliminary estimate and consensus forecast of analysts.

Thus, inflation increased compared to April, when it amounted to 2.4% (the lowest value since November last year).

The growth in the cost of services accelerated to 4.1% y/y in May, compared with 3.7% in April. At the same time, the increase in prices for food, alcohol and tobacco products slowed to 2.6% compared with 2.8% a month earlier. Prices for industrial products increased by 0.7%, which is lower than the April figure of 0.9%. Energy prices increased by 0.3% after falling by 0.6% in April.

The Core inflation index (CPI Core), which does not take into account the cost of food and energy, accelerated to 2.9% in May. In April, this figure was 2.7%, which was the lowest increase since February 2022. Experts expected core inflation to rise to 2.9%.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices in the eurozone rose by 0.2% in May after rising by 0.6% in April.