Eurozone June inflation at 2.5 percent. Down 0.1 pct pt from May

Brussels – Inflation declined slightly in the Eurozone in June. Compared to May, the consumer price index fell by 0.1 percentage point, going from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent, according to preliminary estimates released by Eurostat. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services is expected to have the highest annual rate in June (4.1 percent, stable compared to May), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (2.5 percent, up from 2.6 percent in May), non-energy industrial goods (0.7 percent, stable compared to May), and energy (0.2 percent, up from 0.3 percent in May).

At the Member State level, Germany and Spain posted a 0.3 percentage point drop (with inflation expected to reach 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent in June, respectively), while the French slowdown was more contained (-0.1 percentage points, to 2.5 percent). Italy bucked the trend, recording +0.1 percent, with inflation rising to 0.9 percent in June.