Malta's annual inflation rate was 1.7 percent in May 2019, the same as in the previous month. It remains at the highest level since last October, as prices continued to rise for food & non-alcoholic beverages (4.3 percent vs 3.8 percent in April) and miscellaneous goods & services (2.4 percent vs 1.7 percent). On the other hand, cost slowed for restaurants & hotels (2.5 percent vs 3.3 percent); transport (1.0 percent vs 1.4 percent); recreation & culture (0.5 percent vs 0.8 percent). Meantime, inflation remained steady for housing & utilities (at 2.3 percent). On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 1.4 percent, slowing from a 3 percent rise in April. Inflation Rate in Malta averaged 1.91 percent from 2005 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 5.74 percent in October of 2008 and a record low of -1.08 percent in April of 2007.
Inflation Rate in Malta is expected to be 1.60 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate in Malta to stand at 2.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Malta Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 2.40 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.