Inflation, the figure that shows how fast prices are rising, fell to 2.55 per cent in April, Statbel, the government's statistical service, said. This is the lowest level of inflation in Belgium since January last year. In January this year, inflation was still above 4 per cent.
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Inflation drops to 2.55 per cent, lowest level since early last year
Colin Clapson
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The drop is somewhat unexpected, as the government’s Planning Office was expecting an increase with inflation rising to 3.14 per cent in April. Inflation based on the health index, which is composed on the basis of a different basket of services and goods and is used to calculate the index that triggers a top-up for wages and benefits also edged lower to 3 per cent this month.
According to Statbel, natural gas and electricity are among the products that had a lowering effect on the index, as did motor fuels, foreign travel, dairy products, eggs, fish, seafood, bread, cereals, fruits and meat.
For instance, natural gas became 5.9 per cent cheaper this month and electricity 4.6 per cent cheaper. Motor fuels became 1.4 per cent cheaper this month; on a year-on-year basis, there was even an 11.6 per cent decline. The main price increases in April were for airline tickets (+11.1 per cent) and hotel rooms (+5.4 per cent).
Core inflation, which does not take into account the price evolution of volatile products such as energy and unprocessed foods, did move higher in April to 2.81 per cent. In March, core inflation stood at 2.71 per cent.