Greece's harmonized consumer price index fell below the euro zone's average inflation rate in May for the first time since September last year, according to Eurostat estimates.
In fact, Greece is the only euro area member state where the index fell on a monthly basis (compared to April 2024). Negative energy inflation, the significant limitation of price increases due to a three-month block on offers by price-increasing retailers, and the fact that Orthodox Easter this year fell in May (which often means big offers) are considered important factors both in the decline of the CPI in May and in its deviation from its euro area counterpart.
According to Eurostat, Greece's Harmonized Consumer Price Index is estimated to have formed at 2.3% in May, compared to an annual change of 3.2% for the index in April 2024. This performance makes Greece the fifth-lowest inflation rate in the euro area, after Latvia (0.2%), Finland (0.5%), Italy (0.8%), Lithuania (0.8%) and Ireland (1.9%).
In the euro area, the harmonized consumer price index showed the opposite trend to Greece, rising to 2.6% in May from 2.4% in April. The services sector is now driving up the consumer price index, with services prices at the euro area level rising 4.1% year-on-year, up from 3.7% year-on-year in April. Food prices also continued to rise, rising to 2.6% in May from 2.8% in April. Meanwhile, the separate energy price index rose to 0.3% from 0.6% in April.
It is also worth noting that Greece is the only euro area member state to have recorded a small decrease in its consumer price index in May 2024 compared to April 2024, of around 0.3%.
Further data on the national consumer price index will be available the day after the European elections, with Eurostat due to publish it on June 10th, and Development Minister Costas Skrekas has already welcomed the data.
