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Dutch inflation remains higher than in the eurozone
Inflation in the Netherlands was 3,7% in March according to the rapid estimate of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). That is slightly lower than a month earlier, when inflation was 3,8%. The inflation figure is still considerably higher than the eurozone average.
Compared to February 2025, prices rose by 0,4% in March. Food, beverages and tobacco products were 7,1% more expensive in March, compared to 7,5% in February. Services rose by 4,7% in March compared to March 2024. In February, this was 4,6%.
Energy cheaper
The only category that has become cheaper is energy including motor fuels. In one year, prices fell by 3,4%. That is a lot more than the annual price drop of 1,9% that was seen in February.
According to the European calculation method (HICP), Dutch inflation was 3,4%, Eurostat reports. In February, it was 3,5%. For the eurozone as a whole, it was 2,2%. A decrease compared to the 2,3% in February. The Netherlands is among the countries with the highest inflation in the eurozone. Slovakia, Croatia and Estonia have the highest inflation with 4,3%. Furthermore, only Belgium currently has a higher inflation rate than the Netherlands with 3,6%. In Germany, inflation is 2,3% and in France 0,9%, which is also the lowest figure in the eurozone.
In the eurozone on average, services increased the most in price (+3,4%). Food, beverages and tobacco became 2,9% more expensive year-on-year. Energy also became cheaper in the eurozone, but at 0,7%, the price did not jump as much as in the Netherlands.
Close to ECB target inflation
With an inflation of 2,2%, this comes pretty close to the European Central Bank's target inflation of 2%. Because inflation is moving in the right direction, the ECB lowered the interest rate by 6 basis points to 25% on March 2,5. "If there is one country in the eurozone that does not benefit from low ECB interest rates at the moment, it is the Netherlands, because inflation is much higher here than in other countries," says macro-economist and manager at investment fund Hoofbosch Edin Mujagić recently in an interview about the world economy and interest rates in the studio of Boerenbusiness.
Linda van Eekeres
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