Annual inflation in the European Union was 2.6 percent in May this year, decreasing compared to the revised 2.7 percent recorded in April, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In May 2011, the annual inflation rate was registered as 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation was 0.0 percent in May 2012.
Meanwhile, in the euro area annual inflation was 2.4 percent in May, down from 2.6 percent recorded in April this year. In the same month of the previous year, the annual inflation rate was registered as 2.7 percent, while monthly inflation was -0.1 percent in May this year.
In May, the lowest annual inflation rates in the European Union were observed in Greece and Sweden both with 0.9 percent and in Bulgaria with 1.8 percent, while the highest were seen in Hungary with 5.4 percent, in Estonia with 4.1 percent and in Cyprus and Malta both with 3.7 percent, all compared with April this year.
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of May 2012 were registered in Sweden at 1.1 percent, in Ireland at 1.5 percent and in Greece at 2.1 percent, while the highest were recorded in Estonia at 4.7 percent, in Hungary at 4.5 percent and in Slovakia with 4.1 percent.