According to a flash estimate from Eurostat, euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.0% in May 2021, up from 1.6% in April. Economists had expected a 1.9% increase. The core figures steadied at 0.9% y/y in May when compared to 0.8% expectations and 0.7% in April.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in May (13.1%, compared with 10.4% in April), followed by services (1.1%, compared with 0.9% in April), non-energy industrial goods (0.7%, compared with 0.4% in April) and food, alcohol & tobacco (0.6%, stable compared with April).