Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, living has rapidly become more expensive. But lately the prices are going up a little less quickly. This is already the fourth consecutive month that inflation has declined. This has everything to do with gas, electricity and petrol prices. They increased very fast at the beginning of last year but have recently shown a decrease. However, energy is still significantly more expensive than it was a year ago.
Food remains expensive
The decrease in inflation is not yet noticeable in the supermarket. The pace of growth in food, beverage and tobacco prices was slightly higher in January than in December. The average increase in the prices of these products was 14.5% last month, compared to 14% the previous month. The prices of industrial goods, on the other hand, grew less rapidly.
To make a good comparison with other European countries, Statistics Netherlands has also provided data on inflation according to the European method, which does not take into account, among other things, house rents. Inflation thus stood at 8.4 per cent, compared with 11 per cent in December.
Statistics Netherlands warns that this quick estimate is based on incomplete data. The statistics office will only release data on regular inflation later this month.