Belgium: Inflation rises to 3.74 percent, energy 15 percent more expensive than a year ago

In March, the indicator for the increase in the cost of living was still 3.18 percent, but rose to 3.37 percent in April.

The food inflation rate has fallen compared to May: Food inflation (including alcoholic beverages) this month came in at 0.31 percent compared to 1 percent in May. Last month, food inflation had risen for the first time since March 2023.

In contrast, energy inflation went from 11.17 percent in May to 15.10 in June. In April, it was still 9.19 percent.

The price of natural gas rose by 6.0 percent in June compared to the previous month. The price of electricity rose by an average of 3.4 percent this month, according to Statbel.

The rising inflation is mainly due to the phasing out of government support measures, the Belgian statistics office Statbel emphasizes. “In March, the last effect of the basic energy package disappeared from the index figure. The disappearance of the basic package will therefore continue to have an increasing effect on inflation until February 2025,” Statbel reports in a press release.

As a result, energy is now 15 percent more expensive than a year ago. We even pay more than twice as much for gas as last year, but we don’t use that much in the summer.

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Sugar, catering and bread

The main price increases in June were in natural gas, electricity, telecommunications packs, confectionery, restaurants and cafes, bread and cereals, domestic package holidays, household appliances and repairs, clothing and hotel rooms.

Food is no longer rising in price. The price of the shopping cart remains constant at a level that is higher than before the pandemic. Some food products, such as milk and tea, have even become considerably cheaper in the past 12 months. The main structural driver of inflation is services. Services inflation rose from 3.88 to 4.55 percent. This concerns catering, tourism, events and the like.

Core inflation, which does not take into account the price evolution of energy products and unprocessed foods, has also risen. This is 2.97 percent, compared to 2.8 percent in May.