Brussels (dpa) - Eurozone inflation matched the flash estimate in May, while core inflation accelerated beyond expectations, official data showed Wednesday.
Inflation advanced to 3.2%, the strongest since September 2023, and remained unchanged from the estimate published on June 2. This followed April's 3% increase.
Inflation has remained above the European Central Bank's medium-term target of 2% for the third straight month.
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco, rose to 2.6%, which was slightly above the flash estimate of 2.5% and 2.2% posted in April.
Monthly, the harmonized index of consumer prices edged up 0.1% in May.
Energy prices logged an annual growth of 10.8%, the same rate as seen in April. Services inflation rose to 3.5% from 3%.
Non-energy industrial goods prices climbed 0.9%, following a 0.8% gain a month ago. Meanwhile, food inflation softened to 1.9% from 2.4%.
Last week, the ECB had raised its interest rates for the first time in nearly three years in a bid to cushion the impact of rising inflation. The deposit rate was raised by 25 basis points to 2.25%.
