Energy costs drag euro area producer prices lower in May

Factory gate prices in the single currency bloc fell more quickly than expected in May, dragged down by declines in the cost of energy and for non-durable consumer goods.

According to Eurostat, in seasonally adjusted terms, producer prices in the euro area fell at a month-on-month pace of 0.6% and were down 5.0% against their year earlier level.

Economists had anticipated a 0.4% drop on the month and a 4.6% retreat in annual terms.

In comparison to the prior month, producer prices fell by 0.5% in Germany, by 0.3% in Italy and Spain, by 0.1% in France and by 0.9% in Holland.

Overall, excluding energy, producer prices fell by 0.3% and those of energy by 1.4%, while those of intermediate goods declined 0.4%, while the cost of capital and durable consumer goods was flat.

Non-durable consumer goods prices meanwhile were down by 0.6%.