Eurostat: Bulgaria 3rd in EU by Lowest Annual Inflation

The annual inflation rate of Bulgaria in May 2012 was 1.8%. File photo

Bulgaria is among the top three EU Member States having the lowest annual inflation for May 2012, only behind Greece and Sweden.

The figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The annual inflation rate of Bulgaria in May 2012 was 1.8%, of Greece and Sweden – 0.9% in each.

The Eurozone annual inflation was 2.4% in May 2012, down from 2.6% in April. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%. The monthly inflation was -0.1% in May 2012.

In the EU, the annual inflation was 2.6% in May 2012, down from 2.7% in April. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.0% in May 2012.

In May 2012, the highest annual rate of inflation was observed in Hungary (5.4%), Estonia (4.1%), Cyprus and Malta (both 3.7%).

Compared with April 2012, annual inflation fell in twenty Member States, remained stable in three and rose in three.

The lowest 12-month averages up to May 2012 were registered in Sweden (1.1%), Ireland (1.5%) and Greece (2.1%), and the highest in Estonia (4.7%), Hungary (4.5%) and Slovakia (4.1%).

The main components with the highest annual rates in May 2012 were alcohol & tobacco (4.7%), housing (4.0%) and transport (3.7%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-3.3%), education (0.7%) and recreation & culture (1.3%).

Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.22 percentage points), gas (+0.12), electricity and tobacco (+0.09 each) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.19), audio-visual equipment, cars and rents (-0.06 each) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were alcohol & tobacco (0.4%), household equipment and hotels & restaurants (both 0.2%), while the lowest monthly rates were observed for transport (-1.0%) and communications (-0.6%).

In particular, fruit (+0.03 percentage points), restaurants & caf?s and electricity (+0.02 each) had the largest upward impacts, while fuels for transport (-0.15), air transport, heating oil, vegetables and package holidays (-0.02 each) had the biggest downward impacts.

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