Summary

Consumer prices in Germany saw increases of 7.9% year-on-year in May and 0.9% month-on-month. Unsurprisingly, food and energy were the main culprits fueling inflation, with energy up a jaw-dropping 38.3% year-on-year and food up 11.1%. The May numbers represent a new post-unification high, fresh on the heels of a record-breaking April.

They’re paralleled by other negative inflation data out of Spain, which saw a surprise upswing in May, dashing hopes of a peak earlier in the year. Spain’s inflation rate of 8.5% in May came after a dip from 9.8% in March to 8.3% in April. Similar to Germany, inflation is being fueled by strong upward pressure in energy and food prices.