BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) – Eurozone inflation hit a new record high in May as energy and food prices continued to rise, Eurostat’s first estimate on Tuesday showed.
The consumer price index calculated according to European standards (HICP) posted an increase of 8.1% over one year after 7.4% in April; economists and analysts polled by Reuters on average expected a figure of 7.7%.
The surge in energy prices, still fueled by the war in Ukraine, reached 39.2% compared to May 2021, which reflects a further acceleration after the 37.5% increase recorded in April.
And the rise continues to spread to other price categories: those of food, alcohol and tobacco rose by 7.5% in one year, those of industrial goods excluding energy by 4.2% and those of services by 3.5%, specifies Eurostat, three figures also higher than last month.
The inflation rate excluding energy and unprocessed food, the most watched by the European Central Bank (ECB), reached 4.4% over one year after 3.9% last month.
An even narrower measure, which also excludes alcohol and tobacco, is up 3.8% after +3.5% in April.
(Report Balazs Koranyi, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Kate Entringer)