The annual inflation rate in the euro area increased to 2.6% in May 2024, up from 2.4% in April, according to data released by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office. This marks a significant decrease from the 6.1% rate recorded in May 2023. Meanwhile, the annual inflation rate across the entire European Union rose to 2.7% in May 2024, slightly up from 2.6% in April, and down from 7.1% a year earlier.
Latvia, Finland, and Italy registered the lowest annual inflation rates in May 2024, with figures of 0.0%, 0.4%, and 0.8% respectively. In contrast, Romania, Belgium, and Croatia experienced the highest annual rates at 5.8%, 4.9%, and 4.3% respectively. Comparing month-to-month changes, eleven EU Member States saw a decrease in annual inflation, two remained unchanged, and fourteen experienced an increase.
Services made the largest contribution to the annual inflation rate in the euro area, adding 1.83 percentage points. This was followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco (0.51 pp), non-energy industrial goods (0.18 pp), and energy (0.04 pp).
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