Eurozone consumer price inflation remained at 3.2% in May 2026, unchanged from April and marking the highest rate since September 2023, well above the European Central Bank’s 2.0% target. The increase was driven primarily by energy costs, which surged 10.8%—the steepest rise since February 2023—amid supply constraints linked to conflict in the Middle East.
Services inflation accelerated to 3.5%, up from 3.0% in April, while prices for non-energy industrial goods edged higher to 0.9% from 0.8%. By contrast, inflation for food, alcohol, and tobacco eased to 1.9% from 2.4%. The core inflation rate, which excludes energy and food, rose to 2.6% from 2.2%, indicating that price pressures are becoming more broadly based across the economy.
Among the major eurozone economies, headline inflation increased in Spain (to 3.6% from 3.5%), the Netherlands (3.4% from 2.5%), Italy (3.2% from 2.8%), and France (2.8% from 2.5%), while it moderated in Germany, slipping to 2.7% from 2.9%.
