Eurozone inflation confirmed at highest since September 2023

(Sharecast News) - Inflation across the eurozone was confirmed at a two-and-a-half-year high in May, according to the final estimate from Eurostat published on Wednesday, as price pressures intensified for the fourth straight month on the back of the Middle East conflict. Eurostat said that the annual change in the consumer price index was 3.2% last month, in line with initial estimates released two weeks ago and up from 3.0% in April.

That was the highest inflation rate registered since September 2023, and marks a 1.5-percentage point surge in just four months after dropping to 1.7% in January - which tied the lowest rate seen since April 2021.

Energy prices jumped at a year-on-year rate of 10.8% in May, in line with April's increase, offsetting a slowdown in food, alcohol and tobacco inflation to 1.9% from 2.4%.



Even when excluding these more volatile items, core inflation also jumped to 2.6% from 2.2%, with service-sector inflation rising strongly to 3.5% from 3.0%.

Across member states, the highest rates of inflation were seen in Bulgaria (6.3%) and Lithuania (5.1%), while the lowest rates were registered in Malta (2.1%) and Germany (2.7%).