Romania reported the highest annual inflation rate in the EU in May 2025, of 5.4%, according to new data from Eurostat.
Other countries to report an above-average inflation rate for the period included Estonia (4.6%), Hungary (4.5%), Slovakia (4.3%) and Croatia (4.3%).
At the other end of the scale, the lowest annual inflation rate was recorded in Cyprus (0.4%), France (0.6%), Ireland (1.4%) and Denmark (1.5%).
Inflation across the EU
Across the European Union, annual inflation stood at 2.2% for the month, down from 2.4% in April and 2.7% for the corresponding month a year earlier. In the euro area, inflation stood at 1.9% in May, down from 2.2% in April.
The main contributors to the euro area inflation rate were services (+1.47 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.62 percentage points), non-energy industrial goods (+0.16 percentage points) and energy (-0.34 percentage points).
On a month-on-month basis, meanwhile, Malta reported the biggest increase in inflation in the EU (+1.7%), followed by Portugal (0.6%), Czechia (0.5%), Croatia (0.5%), Luxembourg (0.5%), Romania (0.5%) and Slovakia (0.5%).
The Netherlands reported the biggest month-on-month decrease in inflation, of -0.9%, Eurostat‘s data showed. Read more here.
Month-on-Month Change in Inflation by EU Member State, May 2025 (%)
| Country | Inflation Change (%) |
|---|---|
| Malta | 1.7 |
| Portugal | 0.6 |
| Czechia | 0.5 |
| Croatia | 0.5 |
| Luxembourg | 0.5 |
| Romania | 0.5 |
| Slovakia | 0.5 |
| Greece | 0.4 |
| Sweden | 0.3 |
| Germany | 0.2 |
| Cyprus | 0.2 |
| Hungary | 0.2 |
| Bulgaria | 0.1 |
| Estonia | 0.1 |
| Finland | 0.1 |
| Denmark | 0.0 |
| Ireland | 0.0 |
| Spain | 0.0 |
| Latvia | 0.0 |
| Belgium | -0.1 |
| Italy | -0.1 |
| Austria | -0.1 |
| Poland | -0.1 |
| Slovenia | -0.1 |
| France | -0.2 |
| Lithuania | -0.3 |
| Netherlands | -0.9 |
