Bulgaria reported an annual inflation rate of 6.3% in May 2026, the highest in the euro area, according to new estimates from Eurostat.
Other countries to report an above-average inflation rate for the month included Lithuania (5.1%), Greece (5.0%) and Croatia (4.9%).
Malta reported the lowest annual inflation rate for the month, of 2.1%, followed by Germany (2.7%), according to the estimates.
As Eurostat‘s data showed, euro area inflation accelerated again in May, with rising energy and services costs pushing headline inflation further above the European Central Bank’s 2% target.
Annual inflation across the euro area increased to 3.2% in May 2026, up from 3.0% in April.
Sector by sector
On a sector-by-sector basis, the increase was primarily driven by energy prices, which were up 10.9% on an annual basis, slightly above April’s annual increase of 10.8%. Services inflation also accelerated sharply to 3.5%, compared with 3.0% the previous month.
Food, alcohol and tobacco inflation eased to 2.0% from 2.4%, while non-energy industrial goods inflation edged up to 0.9%. Read more here.
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) – May 2026 (Index = 2025)
| Country | Index Value |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 103.50 |
| Bulgaria | 105.04 |
| Czechia | n/a |
| Denmark | n/a |
| Germany | 102.55 |
| Estonia | 103.52 |
| Ireland | 103.18 |
| Greece | 105.02 |
| Spain | 103.43 |
| France | 102.72 |
| Croatia | 104.28 |
| Italy | 103.70 |
| Cyprus | 103.64 |
| Latvia | 103.74 |
| Lithuania | 104.90 |
| Luxembourg | 104.47 |
| Hungary | n/a |
| Malta | 103.71 |
| Netherlands | 103.23 |
| Austria | 103.29 |
| Poland | n/a |
| Portugal | 104.02 |
| Romania | n/a |
| Slovenia | 103.66 |
| Slovakia | 103.76 |
| Finland | 103.06 |
| Sweden | n/a |
