News Inflation
Inflation rising again, food 15,1 percent more expensive
Inflation rose again in February, to 8%. In January, inflation had fallen to 7,6%. Food prices rose again last month and were 15,1% more expensive than a year earlier. This is evident from the rapid inflation forecast of Statistics Netherlands. The upward trend is at odds with that of the eurozone as a whole.
Inflation is rising again for the first time since September last year. That month, prices rose 14,5% on an annual basis. In the following months, inflation fell to 14,3% in October, 9,9% in November and 7,6% in January. Food was 15,1% more expensive on an annual basis in February, compared to 14,5% in January. In December 2022, food was 14% more expensive than in the same month a year earlier, in November 15,7% and in October 14%.
Eurozone inflation is falling
In addition to the consumer price index, there is also an inflation rate based on the European harmonized consumer price index. According to that figure, Dutch inflation is 8,9%, compared to 8,4% in January. This means that inflation in the Netherlands is higher than in the eurozone. According to data from Eurostat, inflation across the eurozone has fallen from 8,6% in January to 8,5% last month. Germany also saw a slight increase in inflation, to 9,3%. Inflation also rose slightly to 7,2% in France. In Belgium, inflation continues to fall from 7,4% in January to 5,5% last month.
Although average inflation in the eurozone eased somewhat in February, food prices continued to rise. In January, food was 14,1% more expensive in the eurozone on an annual basis, compared to 15% in February. For unprocessed food, inflation was 13,6%.
From June, CBS will include 'real' energy prices
From June of this year, Statistics Netherlands will use a new method to calculate energy prices for the inflation rate. So far new contracts are assumed. This distorted the inflation rate, especially during the period when energy prices rose extremely because there were even more contracts at the old rates and energy prices were sky-high. The new method uses transaction data from energy suppliers.
Linda van Eekeres
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