Inflation in Germany picked up speed again in May, with prices rising 2.4% compared to the same month last year, preliminary figures showed on Wednesday.
That marks a slight uptick from April, when inflation was 2.2% compared to the same month in the previous year.
Economists had expected inflation to pick up in May and also pointed to higher wages, which could lead to price increases by companies.
According to preliminary data from Germany's Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday, consumers had to pay a total of 0.6% more for food in May than a year earlier.
Services are expected to have risen by 3.9%, and prices for insurance services rose particularly sharply.
Energy costs dropped 1.1% in May compared to a year earlier, although the expiration in April of a temporary tax break on natural gas and district heating hit consumers.
In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, German lawmakers temporarily reduced the VAT on natural gas and district heating from 19% down to 7%.
Wages for workers in Germany rose faster than inflation during the first quarter of 2024, however, according to wage data also released on Wednesday. Wages grew 6.4% in nominal terms, and 3.8% even after adjusting for inflation, the highest rate since the agency started tracking the figures in 2008.
That should help average German workers regain some of the lost purchasing power during recent years of high inflation.
According to the preliminary figures, consumer prices rose by 0.1% in May compared to the previous month of April.
The extremely high inflation rates of the past two years are now history. On average for the year, leading economic research institutes expect inflation in Europe's largest economy to slow significantly to 2.3% after reaching 5.9% last year.