Eurostat estimate shows that the food sector should have the highest annual rate, with 12.5%
Inflation in euro zone retreated more than expected in May. The consumer price index came in at 6.1% year-on-year, down from 7% in April. You data Preliminary figures were released this Thursday (June 1, 2023) by the EU (European Union) statistics agency, Eurostat. Here’s the full of the report (255 KB, in English).
Economists’ projections made for the newspaper The Wall Street Journal indicated that inflation in the Euro Zone would be 6.4% in May. The decline in the index was driven by the slowdown in food and energy prices.
The food, alcohol and tobacco sector should have the highest annual rate in May (12.5% compared to 13.5% in April). It is followed by non-energy industrial goods (5.8% in May and 6.2% in April), services (5.0% in May and 5.2% in April) and energy (down 1.7% in May compared to an increase of 2.4% in April).
The Euro Zone is made up of Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, France, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal.
“Today, inflation is very high and will remain so for a long time.”, he said the president of the ECB (European Central Bank), Christine Lagarde, this Thursday (June 1st). “That’s why we’ve raised rates at the fastest pace ever and made it clear that we still have some ground to cover to bring interest rates down to restrictive enough levels.”
In early May, the ECB increased the basic interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25%. It was the 7th consecutive high. According to the bank statement (fullin English – 164 KB), the decision aims to respect the block’s annual inflation target of 2%.
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