In January, inflation, the rate at which prices in the shops increase, rose to 1.75 per cent. The figure comes from Statbel, the federal government's statistics unit. Food remains the biggest contributor to the rise. Energy prices, on the other hand, have been falling for almost a year now.
After seven months of decline, inflation started to rise again last November. General inflation in January stood at 1.75 percent, while food inflation measures 6.58 percent higher than a year ago.
Dairy, bread, cereals and alcoholic beverages saw particularly steep price increases. Seafood and smoked fish also became more expensive in January, as did olive oil, non-alcoholic beer and potatoes.
Food inflation is down slightly for the 10th month in a row. In December, for instance, it stood at 7 percent. In March last year, it was over 17 percent.
Energy cheaper and cheaper
Energy prices are on the right track. These have been falling since February last year. This month, they are down 22.3 percent. Natural gas prices fell 51.9 percent, electricity prices 31.7 percent. Motor fuels are 3.2 percent cheaper compared to a year ago.
Core inflation, which does not take into account the price evolution of energy products and unprocessed food, is still on a downward trajectory. It clocked off at 4.70 percent in January, down from 5.47 percent in December and 5.95 percent last November.