EU Annual Inflation Up In May To 2.3%

Annual inflation in the EU was 2.3% in May, up from 2% in April, the bloc's statistical office said on Friday.

The figure for the same month last year was 0.6%, according to Eurostat.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 2% last month, up from 1.6% compared to April.

The eurozone/euro area, or EA19, represents member states that use the single currency – euro – while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

In May, the biggest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (1.19 percentage point), followed by services (0.45 pp), non-energy industrial goods (0.19 pp), food, alcohol, and tobacco (0.15 pp).

Compared with April, annual inflation fell in four EU member states, remained stable in one and rose in 22, Eurostat said.

The countries with the lowest inflation rates were Greece (minus 1.2%), Malta (0.2%), and Portugal (0.5%).

On the other hand, the highest annual rates were seen in Hungary (5.3%), Poland (4.6%), and Luxembourg (4.0%), according to Eurostat data. -