Romania reported the highest annual inflation rate in the European Union in May 2024, of 5.8%, followed by Belgium (4.9%) and Croatia (4.3%), new data has shown.
According to Eurostat data, high inflation rates were also reported in Hungary (3.9%), Spain (3.8%), Portugal (3.8%) and Austria (3.3%).
At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in Latvia (0.0%), Finland (0.4%) and Italy (0.8%).
In the European Union, annual inflation stood at 2.7% in May, up from 2.6% in April, while a year earlier, the year-on-year rate stood at 7.1%.
In the countries that comprise the euro area, meanwhile, the annual inflation rate stood at 2.6% in May, up from 2.4% in April, while a year earlier, the inflation rate was 6.1%, Eurostat said.
The highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate in May came from services (rising by 1.83 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.51 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+0.18 pp) and energy (+0.04 pp).
Inflation rate by EU Member State (May 2024)
| Rank | Country | Inflation Rate (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | 5.8 |
| 2 | Belgium | 4.9 |
| 3 | Croatia | 4.3 |
| 4 | Hungary | 3.9 |
| 5 | Spain | 3.8 |
| 6 | Portugal | 3.8 |
| 7 | Austria | 3.3 |
| 8 | Luxembourg | 3.2 |
| 9 | Estonia | 3.1 |
| 10 | Cyprus | 3.0 |
| 11 | Czechia | 2.8 |
| 12 | Germany | 2.8 |
| 13 | Poland | 2.8 |
| 14 | Bulgaria | 2.7 |
| 15 | Netherlands | 2.7 |
| 16 | France | 2.6 |
| 17 | Slovakia | 2.6 |
| 18 | Slovenia | 2.5 |
| 19 | Sweden | 2.5 |
| 20 | Greece | 2.4 |
| 21 | Malta | 2.3 |
| 22 | Denmark | 2.1 |
| 23 | Ireland | 2.0 |
| 24 | Lithuania | 0.9 |
| 25 | Italy | 0.8 |
| 26 | Finland | 0.4 |
| 27 | Latvia | 0.0 |
