Euro area annual inflation up to 3.2% in May 2026

Overview

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 3.2% in May 2026, up from 3.0% in April according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in May (10.9%, compared with 10.8% in April), followed by services (3.5%, compared with 3.0% in April), food, alcohol & tobacco (2.0%, compared with 2.4% in April) and non-energy industrial goods (0.9%, compared with 0.8% in April) .

Euro area annual inflation - May 2026, %

Tables

Euro area annual inflation and its components (%)
	Weights (‰)	Annual rate							Monthly rate
	2026	May 25	Dec 25	Jan 26	Feb 26	Mar 26	Apr 26	May 26	May 26
All-items HICP	1000.0	1.9	2.0	1.7	1.9	2.6	3.0	3.2e	0.1e
All-items excluding: energy	909.5	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.4e	0.2e
energy, unprocessed food	858.0	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.3	2.2	2.1	2.3e	0.3e
energy, food, alcohol & tobacco	719.8	2.3	2.3	2.2	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.5e	0.3e
Food, alcohol & tobacco	189.8	3.2	2.5	2.6	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.0e	0.0e
processed food, alcohol & tobacco	138.3	3.0	2.1	2.0	1.8	1.7	1.6	1.1e	0.1e
unprocessed food	51.5	3.7	3.5	4.2	4.6	4.2	4.6	4.2e	-0.2e
Energy	90.5	-3.6	-1.9	-4.0	-3.1	5.1	10.8	10.9e	-1.1e
Non-energy industrial goods	252.8	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.7	0.5	0.8	0.9e	0.2e
Services	466.9	3.2	3.4	3.2	3.4	3.3	3.0	3.5e	0.4e
e estimated Source dataset: prc_hicp_minr and prc_hicp_iw

Inflation rates (%) measured by the HICP
	Annual rate							Monthly rate
	May 25	Dec 25	Jan 26	Feb 26	Mar 26	Apr 26	May 26	May 26
Belgium	2.8	2.2	1.4	1.4	2.2	4.2	4.1e	-0.2e
Bulgaria	2.9	3.5	2.3	2.1	2.8	6.0	6.3e	0.3e
Germany	2.1	2.0	2.1	2.0	2.8	2.9	2.7e	-0.1e
Estonia	4.6	4.0	3.8	3.2	3.5	3.2	4.0e	0.9e
Ireland	1.4	2.7	2.5	2.5	3.6	3.6	3.5e	-0.2e
Greece	3.3	2.9	2.9	3.1	3.4	4.6	5.0e	0.7e
Spain	2.0	3.0	2.4	2.5	3.4	3.5	3.6e	0.1e
France	0.6	0.7	0.4	1.1	2.0	2.5	2.8e	0.1e
Croatia	4.3	3.8	3.6	3.9	4.6	5.4	4.9e	0.1e
Italy	1.7	1.2	1.0	1.5	1.6	2.8	3.3e	0.4e
Cyprus	0.4	0.1	1.2	0.9	1.5	3.0	3.7e	0.9e
Latvia	3.7	3.4	2.9	2.4	3.4	2.9	3.4e	0.5e
Lithuania	3.0	3.2	2.8	3.3	4.4	4.9	5.1e	-0.1e
Luxembourg	2.1	3.3	1.6	1.8	3.8	5.2	4.5e	-0.2e
Malta	2.7	2.5	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.5	2.1e	1.3e
Netherlands	2.9	2.7	2.2	2.3	2.6	2.5	3.4e	0.0e
Austria	3.0	3.8	2.1	2.3	3.2	3.4	3.7e	0.1e
Portugal	1.7	2.4	1.9	2.1	2.7	3.3	3.1e	0.4e
Slovenia	1.9	2.6	2.4	2.8	2.4	3.4	3.8	0.3
Slovakia	4.3	4.1	4.3	4.0	3.7	4.1	4.0e	0.4e
Finland	2.0	1.7	1.0	1.8	2.5	2.4	3.0e	0.7e
e estimated Source dataset: prc_hicp_minr

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The euro area inflation flash estimate is issued at the end of each reference month.

The complete set of harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) for the euro area, EU and Member States is released around the middle of the month following the reference month.

The next release with full data for May 2026 is scheduled for 17 June 2026 .

Methods and definitions

Annual inflation is the price change of consumer goods and services between the current month and the same month of the previous year. Monthly inflation is the price change between the current month and the previous month.

Geographical information

Up to December 31, 2025, the euro area included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland (EA20). From 1 January 2026, the euro area also includes Bulgaria (EA21).

The aggregate data series published in this Euro indicator release refer to the evolving composition of the euro area. Thus, Euro indicator data for months up to December 2025 represent EA20 series, while Euro indicator data for January 2026 onwards represent EA21 series. Changes in the composition of the euro area are incorporated using a chain index formula.