Panayiotis Rougalas
In May 2025, the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.26 points, reaching 117.57 compared to 117.31 in April. Inflation for the month fell by 0.2%, a rare event not seen in years, not since the Covid-19 crisis.
And yet, despite this so-called “deflation,” prices are still rising in key sectors compared to May 2024. According to the Statistical Service, there were significant increases in Agricultural Products (4.7%) and Services (3.5%), while the largest drops came from Petroleum Products (-12.8%) and Electricity (-8.6%). Compared to April 2025, the most notable monthly change was again in Petroleum Products, down 3.3%.
Looking at the period from January to May 2025 versus the same stretch last year, the biggest shifts were in Clothing and Footwear (-5.6%), Restaurants and Hotels (+4.6%), and Education (+3.7%). Which means that even after three to four years of rising food prices, we still can’t be sure they’ll hold steady, let alone fall, at today’s already-high levels.
When the inflation wave first hit, driving prices up across the board, most people assumed it was temporary. That once inflation cooled, prices on goods and services would return to normal. That assumption, we now know, was far from reality. The only noticeable (and occasional) price drops the average person has seen, or might still see, are in gasoline for their car or heating oil in winter.
Naturally, people expected that if oil prices fell, transporting goods would cost less, and final prices on store shelves would follow. But no.
Now, with deflationary trends starting to appear, people are hoping, reasonably, that at the very least, prices will stop rising. That hope isn’t just reasonable. It’s fair. The burden of high prices that’s been squeezing households since the Covid era has to ease eventually. The data demand it. Another round of hikes in essential goods would be impossible to justify.
Inflation is coming down. Fine, maybe prices won’t drop. But for them to keep rising when deflation is at 0.2%? That’s simply not acceptable.
This opinion was translated from its Greek original.
