The surge in oil prices as a result of the Iran war also fueled inflation in the euro zone in May.
In a year-on-year comparison, consumer prices rose by 3.2 percent, as the Eurostat statistics office announced on Tuesday in Luxembourg according to an initial estimate. In April the inflation rate was 3.0 percent.
Economists on average had expected this development. The European Central Bank (ECB) is aiming for annual inflation of two percent in the medium term.