The Euro Area annual inflation rate was 2.0 % in May 2021, up from 1.6 % in April. A year earlier, the rate was 0.1 %. European Union annual inflation was 2.3 % in May 2021, up from 2.0 % in April. A year earlier, the rate was 0.6 %. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece (-1.2 %), Malta (0.2 %) and Portugal (0.5 %). The highest annual rates were recorded in Hungary (5.3 %), Poland (4.6 %) and Luxembourg (4.0 %). Compared with April, annual inflation fell in four Member States, remained stable in one and rose in twenty-two.
In May, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (+1.19 percentage points,pp), followed by services (+0.45 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+0.19 pp) and food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.15pp).
Geographical information
The euro area consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
The European Union includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
The euro area and European Union data refer to the respective country compositions at a specific point in time. Changes in the composition of these aggregates are incorporated using a chain index formula. For more information on this, please read this note.
Methods and definitions
Annual inflation is the change of the price level of consumer goods and services between the current month and the same month of the previous year. Monthly inflation is the change of the price level between the current month and the previous month.
A contribution shows how much of the annual inflation rate comes from a particular component of the HICP. The contributions are calculated according to a method which ensures their additivity (allowing for rounding).
Data collection for HICP has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis in all countries. Eurostat and the Member States’ national statistical institutes have agreed a set of procedures to estimate prices that could not be collected due to mobility restrictions or closures of outlets. All information about these procedures is available on the Eurostat website section on inflation.