Eurozone Inflation Up 6.1% in May... Lowest Since Ukraine War Outbreak

The year-on-year consumer price inflation in the Eurozone (EU) for May significantly slowed down compared to the previous month.

Citizens are shopping at Torvehallerne Market in Copenhagen, Denmark.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), on the 16th (local time), consumer prices in the Eurozone rose by 6.1% in May compared to the same month last year. This is a 0.9 percentage point decrease from the 7.0% increase recorded in April. This is the lowest level since February last year (5.9%), when Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering the war.

The core inflation rate, excluding food and energy sectors, also recorded 5.3%, down 0.3 percentage points from 5.6% in April. This suggests that the EU inflation rate, which had repeatedly hit record highs due to last year's sharp rise in energy prices, is gradually stabilizing.

By sector, the price increase rate for food, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco was high at 12.5%. Although the increase narrowed by 0.9 percentage points compared to 13.5% in April, a rapid upward trend continues. Non-energy industrial goods rose by 5.8%, and the services sector increased by 5.0%. Energy prices fell by 1.8%.