Consumer price index slows to 2.4% in May
The inflation rate in Greece slowed significantly in May, according to figures released by Greece’s independent statistical authority ELSTAT on Monday on the consumer price index (CPI).
The annual increase in the CPI was 2.4% compared with May 2023, when the annual rate of change of the CPI was 2.8%. The European Union-harmonized inflation rate also rose by 2.4% in May 2024, down from 4.1% in May 2023 relative to the same month in 2022. The CPI in May 2024 compared with April 2024 decreased by 0.3%.
In May 2023, the monthly rate of change of the CPI was 0.4%. This was largely thanks to reduced energy prices (electricity, natural gas), while food inflation also slowed to 3.1% – with some notable exceptions, such as olive oil (up 56.8%), fish (12.5%) and soft drinks (7.7%).
Leading the price growth last month were commodities in the categories of apparel (up 6.4%), the 5% rise in the group of hotel-cafes-restaurants, due mainly to the increase in the prices at those establishments, and the 4% advance in transport, due to the rise, mainly, in the prices of new cars, secondhand cars, spare parts and accessories for cars, fuel and lubricants, maintenance and repair of cars-motorcycles, and tickets for passenger transport by air.
