Malta’s inflation rate, as measured by the HICP, was 1.7 per cent in May, just above the 1.6 per cent reported by the EU28, but slightly above the 1.2 per cent registered in the eurozone.

The EU rate was down from 1.9 per cent in April and that of the eurozone was down from 1.7 per cent. Malta’s rate remained unchanged.

The lowest rates were registered in Cyprus (0.2%), Portugal (0.3%) and Greece (0.6%). The highest rates were recorded in Romania (4.4%), Hungary (4.0%) and Latvia (3.5%).

Compared with April 2019, annual inflation fell in 16 member states, remained stable in five and rose in six.

In May 2019, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.47 percentage points, pp), followed by energy (+0.38 pp), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.29 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.08 pp).