Euro area annual inflation up to 2.6%

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.6% in May 2024, up from 2.4% in April according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services is expected to have the highest annual rate in May (4.1%, compared with 3.7% in April), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.6%, compared with 2.8% in April), non-energy industrial goods (0.8%, compared with 0.9% in April) and energy (0.3%, compared with -0.6% in April).

Inflation in Malta was at 2.3% for May or 0.3% lower than the EU average.