Annual inflation stood at 5.2% in May, according to ELSTAT, marking a slight easing compared with April, when it had reached 5.4%. However, the pace of price increases remains significantly higher than in May 2025, when inflation was 2.5%, showing that high prices continue to weigh heavily on households.
The strongest pressures were recorded in key categories of everyday spending. In food, notable increases were seen in beef (+17.6%) and lamb/goat (+16.2%), while other food categories also moved higher, such as margarine and other vegetable fats (+10.6%), fruit (+3.5%) and vegetables (+4.1%). In housing, rents rose by 7.7%, while sharp increases were also recorded in energy, with natural gas up 21%. In transport, petrol rose by 21.5%, further increasing the cost of travel.
In May, harmonised inflation — the common inflation index used to compare EU countries — stood at 4.9% in Greece and 3.2% in the eurozone.
On a monthly basis, however, meaning compared with April 2026, the general price index did not record an overall increase. This means that, despite individual price rises, there were also decreases that offset them, such as in natural gas (-9.2%).
Harmonised inflation, namely the index used for comparisons between EU countries, stood at 4.9% in Greece, compared with 3.2% in the eurozone in May, according to Eurostat data, showing that inflationary pressures in the country remain higher than the European average.
Source: AMNA, Eurostat
