Energy was also the biggest contributor to the pace of consumer price increases in May. Electricity and gas grew by more than 39 percent year-on-year, current Eurostat data shows.
After March and April, when euro zone inflation remained flat at 7.4 percent, in May came a re-acceleration in the rate of price level rise. The year-on-year inflation rate in euro-paying countries climbed to 8.1 percent. This is based on Eurostat‘s preliminary estimate.
Energy prices contributed to acceleration in inflation
Energy prices, which were up 39.2 percent year-on-year, contributed the most to the acceleration in inflation. The second fastest healthier item was food, whose prices rose more than nine per cent year-on-year. Conversely, service prices rose the slowest, at only 3.5 per cent.
Estonia has the highest inflation rate
Estonia continued to face the highest inflation rate, but where the rate of price level rises by a tenth of a percentage point exceeded the 20 percent threshold. Prices in Lithuania soared 18.5 percent, Latvia’s third-highest inflation (16.4 percent). Slovakia (11.8), Greece (10.7) and the Netherlands (10.2) still face double-digit inflation. The latter country was the only one to see a drop in the price level in month-on-month terms.
