Malta’s Inflation Rate Drops Slightly In May 2024
A downward trend can be reflected when it comes to inflation in Malta, with National Statistics Office (NSO) figures showing that the country’s annual inflation rate stood at 2.3% in May, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points over the previous month.
The highest annual inflation rates for that month were observed in the categories of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Education, both at 4.8%. Conversely, the lowest rates were recorded in Communication (-11.7%) and Recreation and Culture (-0.3%).
The NSO attributed the increase in the food index primarily to higher milk prices. The Restaurants and Hotels Index contributed 0.70 percentage points, and the Miscellaneous Goods and Services Index contributed 0.31 percentage points, mainly due to increased prices for restaurant services and personal hygiene items.
A Eurostat report placed Malta as having the sixth-lowest annual inflation rate among the 27 EU nations in May.
Across the EU, Latvia had the lowest inflation rate at 0%, followed by Finland at 0.4% and Italy at 0.8%. On the higher end, Romania reported an inflation rate of 5.8%, followed by Belgium at 4.9% and Croatia at 4.3%.
The EU measures inflation using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, which ensures comparability across member states.
In May, the largest contributions to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+1.83 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco (+0.51 percentage points), non-energy industrial goods (+0.18 percentage points), and energy (+0.04 percentage points).
What do you make of these figures?
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