Dutch inflation rate stable at 2.3 percent

• Prices airline tickets nearly 20 percent up from last year
• Petrol price has downward effect on inflation
• Narrowing gap between Dutch and eurozone inflation rates

With 2.3 percent, June’s inflation rate was the same as in May. According to the most recent figures released by Statistics Netherlands, the rate has risen from 0.8 percent in June 2010 to 2.3 percent in June 2011.

More expensive airline tickets had an upward effect on inflation in June. Airline ticket prices were 19.7 percent up in June from one year previously, but petrol prices had a downward effect on inflation. At the petrol station, Dutch consumers paid 1.646 euro per litre Euro95 in June.

According to the European harmonised method (HICP), the inflation rate in the Netherlands was 2.5 percent in June, i.e. 0.1 percentage points up on May. Inflation remained stable in the eurozone at 2.7 percent. The gap between the Dutch inflation rate and the eurozone inflation rate has narrowed in recent months.