Dutch inflation rate up

Dutch inflation was 2.6 percent in July, i.e. 0.3 percentage points up on June. This is mainly due to higher prices for package holidays and petrol. Higher prices for natural gas also contributed to inflation. Inflation is defined as the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) in a particular month compared to the same month in the previous year.

Housing, energy and water (0.7 percentage points) and transport costs (0.6 percentage points) contributed most to July’s inflation rate of 2.6 percent. Food and soft drinks contributed 0.3 percentage points to inflation. Higher prices for cultural and recreational activities contributed 0.2 percentage points, just as consumption abroad. Other goods and services hardly or not at all contributed to inflation.

The harmonised consumer price index (HICP) allows comparison between the inflation rates in the various member states of the European Union (EU). According to the HICP method, Dutch inflation was 2.9 percent in July, an increase by 0.4 percentage points from the preceding month. Eurostat, the European statistical office, calculated an inflation rate of 2.5 percent in the eurozone in July, i.e. 0.2 percentage points lower than in June. The level of inflation in the eurozone is one of the main guidelines for the European Central Bank (ECB) to change or refrain from changing the interest rate. According to the ECB, prices in the eurozone are stable, if the inflation rate is close to 2 percent.

Dutch inflation

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle.

For more information on Dutch inflation, see Statistics Netherlands’ online video on YouTube.