The latest figures published by Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Commission) on the inflation trend do not make comforting reading. For the 25-member EU, a growth of inflation was registered during May, equivalent to 0.4%, which brings the overall annualised rate to 2.4%. The data for inflation in the euro zone are also poor: the rate has risen from 2% in April to 2.5% in May. Finland was alone is registering a drop in inflation (-0.1%) last month. Positive results were also registered for Lithuania, Denmark, Cyprus, United Kingdom, Sweden and Holland (increase limited between 1% and 1.7%). But in many states the inflation rate has risen above the danger threshold of 3% (Malta, Greece, Luxembourg, Spain, Poland, Estonia and Slovenia all have a rate between 3% and 4%). But the most worrying results come from Latvia (+6.1%), Hungary (+7.8%) and Slovakia (+8.2%). The only EU country to present a drop in its rate over the last 12 months is Lithuania (-0,8%). For further information, consult the website http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/
