Lisbon, June 12, 2026 (Lusa) - Statistics Portugal (INE) confirmed on Friday that the year-on-year inflation rate remained at 3.3% in May, in line with the flash estimate released earlier.
“The year-on-year change in the CPI [Consumer Price Index] was 3.3% in May 2026, the same rate as that recorded in the previous month.
Rounded to one decimal place, this rate matches the figure from the flash estimate released on 29 May,” the INE said.
The core inflation indicator, which excludes unprocessed food and energy products, also recorded a year-on-year change identical to the previous month's at 2.2%.
In May, the year-on-year change in the energy index rose to 13.1%, up from 11.7% in the previous month, whilst the index for unprocessed food slowed to 5.7%, down from 7.4% in April.
By expenditure category and compared with the previous month, INE highlights the increases in the year-on-year rates of change for transport, leisure, recreation, sport and culture, and for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, with changes of 6.0%, 0.2% and 3.5% respectively (4.8%, -0.6% and 2.9% in April).
Conversely, it notes the decrease in the year-on-year rate of change for the categories of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and restaurants and accommodation services, with changes of 3.1%, 3.2% and 5.1% respectively (5.0%, 4.4% and 5.7% in the previous month) In May, the categories making the largest positive contributions to the year-on-year change in the CPI were transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and restaurants and accommodation services. Conversely, the categories of information and communication, and clothing and footwear, stood out.
Compared with the previous month, the increase in the contribution to the year-on-year change in the CPI from the transport category stands out, whilst the food and non-alcoholic beverages category contributed less.
In monthly terms, the change in the CPI between April and May was 0.2%, compared with 1.3% in the previous month and 0.4% in the same period last year.
The category with the largest positive contribution to the monthly rate of change in the overall index was restaurants and accommodation services, with a change of 1.9% (4.4% in the previous month and 2.5% in May 2025). Conversely, the food and non-alcoholic beverages category made the smallest positive contribution to the monthly CPI change rate, with a change of -0.3% (0.9% in the previous month and 0.8% in May 2025).
Over the last 12 months, this indicator has shown an average change of 2.5%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the 2.4% recorded over the 12 months ending in April.
As for the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which allows for a comparison between the various countries of the European Union (EU), it recorded a year-on-year change of 3.1% in May, compared with 3.3% in the previous month, a rate 0.1 percentage points lower than the figure estimated by Eurostat for the euro area (in April, the year-on-year rate of change for the Portuguese HICP had been 0.3 percentage points higher than that of the euro area).
Excluding unprocessed food and energy, the HICP rose by 2.1% in May (2.3% in April), a rate lower than that of the euro area (estimated at 2.3%).
The HICP recorded a monthly change of 0.4% (1.9% in the previous month and 0.6% in May 2025) and an average change over the last 12 months of 2.4% (2.3% in the previous month).
PD/ADB // ADB.
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