VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta’s inflation rate climbed for the fourth consecutive month in May, standing in sharp contrast to falling inflation across much of the European Union, data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) and Eurostat confirmed. The annual inflation rate in Malta, as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), reached 2.7% in May, up from 1.8% in January.
Over the same period, the EU’s annual inflation rate dropped from 2.8% to 2.2%, while the euro area’s rate fell from 2.5% to 1.9%. The NSO highlighted that the largest driver of Malta’s inflation was food and non-alcoholic beverages, particularly meat, contributing 0.72 percentage points to the overall increase. Rising restaurant prices added a further 0.62 percentage points, while higher air transport costs contributed 0.66 percentage points.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
