Annual harmonised inflation in Cyprus in May rose to 4.1%, compared to 3.5% in April, according to figures released by Eurostat. Euro area annual inflation was 2.7% in May 2011, down from 2.8% in April. A year earlier the rate was 1.7%.

EU annual inflation was 3.2% in May 2011, down from 3.3% in April. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was 0.1% in May 2011.

In May 2011, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.2%), Sweden (1.7%) and the Czech Republic (2.0%), and the highest in Romania (8.5%), Estonia (5.5%) and Lithuania (5.0%). Compared with April 2011, annual inflation rose in fourteen member states, remained stable in four and fell in nine.

The lowest 12-month averages up to May 2011 were registered in Ireland (-0.2%), Sweden (1.5%) and the Netherlands (1.6%), and the highest in Romania (7.5%), Greece (4.8%) and Estonia (4.5%).