Euro area annual inflation was 2.4% in May 2012, down from 2.6% in April. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%. Monthly inflation was -0.1% in May 2012.
The highest annual rateswere in Hungary (5.4%), Estonia (4.1%), Cyprus and Malta (both 3.7%). Compared with April 2012, annual inflation fell in twenty Member States, remained stable in three and rose in three.
EU annual inflation was 2.6% in May 2012, down from 2.7% in April. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.0% in May 2012.
Inflation in the EU Member States
In May 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Greece and Sweden (both 0.9%) and Bulgaria (1.8%), and the highest in Hungary (5.4%), Estonia (4.1%), Cyprus and Malta (both 3.7%). Compared with April 2012, annual inflation fell in twenty Member States, remained stable in three and rose in three.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to May 2012 were registered in Sweden (1.1%), Ireland (1.5%) and Greece (2.1%), and the highest in Estonia (4.7%), Hungary (4.5%) and Slovakia (4.1%). Malta stood at 2.6%.
Euro area
The main components with the highest annual rates in May 2012 were alcohol & tobacco (4.7%), housing (4.0%) and transport (3.7%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-3.3%), education (0.7%) and recreation & culture (1.3%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.22 percentage points), gas (+0.12), electricity and tobacco (+0.09 each) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.19), audio-visual equipment, cars and rents (-0.06 each) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were alcohol & tobacco (0.4%), household equipment and hotels & restaurants (both 0.2%), while the lowest monthly rates were observed for transport (-1.0%) and communications (-0.6%). In particular, fruit (+0.03 percentage points), restaurants & cafés and electricity (+0.02 each) had the largest upward impacts, while fuels for transport (-0.15), air transport, heating oil, vegetables and package holidays (-0.02 each) had the biggest downward impacts.
These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.