Inflation, Istat: in May it fell to 1.7%, but the trolley is still rising (+3.1%)

In May 2025, according to preliminary ISTAT estimates, inflation fell to 1.7% from 1.9% in April. The slowdown was affected by the marked deceleration of regulated energy prices (+29.1% from +31.7% in April) and the accentuation of the downturn in non-regulated energy prices (-4.3% from -3.4%); also decelerating were the prices of unprocessed foodstuffs (+3.7% from +4.2%) and some types of services.

The shopping trolley, on the other hand, continues to rise: from 2.6% in April it goes to 3.1%. "A support to the inflation dynamics is due to the decisive acceleration of processed food prices (+3.2% from +2.2%), which drives the 'shopping cart'," Istat writes. As for core inflation, it fell to 2.0% in May from 2.1% in April.

Thetrend growth in goods prices accelerated (from +1.0% to +1.1%), while that in services slowed (from +3.0% to +2.6%). The inflation differential between the services and goods sectors narrowed to +1.5 percentage points from +2.0 in the previous month.

The prices of food, household and personal care goods accelerated (from +2.6% to +3.1%), as did those of high-frequency goods (from +1.6% to +1.7%).

The null cyclical change in the overall index is the result of opposing dynamics of the different components: on the one hand, the prices of unregulated energy (-2.1%) and transport-related services (-1.7%) decreased; on the other hand, the prices of food, both unprocessed (+0.9%) and processed (+0.8%), and those of recreational, cultural and personal care services (+0.9%) increased compared to the previous month.