Inflation in euro zone falling

Inflation in the euro zone fell noticeably in May, with the annual rate receding from 7.0 per cent the previous month to 6.1 per cent. This was confirmed by the Eurostat statistics office in Luxembourg on Friday on the basis of a second appraisal. It is the lowest inflation rate since February 2022; last year, inflation hit double digits at times as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Foods and luxury items continued to rise sharply in price, although not quite as sharply as in the previous month. The price of industrially produced goods and services also rose at a more modest rate, with energy prices even declining by 1.8 per cent.

The inflation differential in the euro area remains high, however. Slovakia and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are experiencing particularly high inflation rates of more than ten per cent in each case. Luxembourg, Belgium and Spain are at the opposite end of the scale, below the three per cent mark.