Year-on-year, inflation picked up for: food & non-alcoholic beverages (2.1 percent vs 1.2 percent in April), mostly unprocessed food (2.4 percent vs 0.7 percent); transport (2.6 percent vs 0.4 percent), as cost of services related to transport rebounded (1.7 percent vs -0.7 percent). Additional upward pressure came from: restaurants & hotels (1.5 percent vs 1.2 percent); miscellaneous goods & services (2.4 percent vs 2.0 percent); alcoholic beverages & tobacco (3.6 percent vs 3.0 percent) and furniture & household equipment (0.3 percent vs 0.1 percent).
Meanwhile, cost remained flat for housing & utilities and prices eased for recreation & culture (0.6 percent vs 0.8 percent).
Annual core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food rose to 0.8 percent from 0.5 percent in April, according to the preliminary estimate. Excluding only energy, the inflation also quickened to 0.9 percent from 0.5 percent in the prior month.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up by 0.4 percent, compared to a 0.1 percent increase in March, preliminary estimates showed.
The harmonized index of consumer prices went up by 1.1 percent from the previous year (0.6 percent in April) and by 0.4 percent from the previous month (0.5 percent in April).