Inflation in Germany, Europe`s biggest economy, crept higher in May with consumer prices rising by 0.7 percent year-on-year, preliminary data showed Monday.
The index had risen in April by 0.5 percent on a 12-month basis, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.
Using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) -- the yardstick used by the European Central Bank -- inflation in Germany also rose by 0.7 percent year-on-year in May, still way under the ECB`s annual inflation target of just below two percent.
The May data are still only preliminary, since they are based on consumer price statistics from only six of Germany`s 16 regional states.
Final data from all 16 states will be published on June 16, Destatis said.
The data nevertheless appear to confirm that the ECB`s monetary policy measures are slowly beginning to push up inflation.
In March, the ECB embarked on a massive trillion euro ($1.1 trillion) bond purchase programme to ward off deflation and end stagnation in the eurozone economy.