Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Belgian Inflation Climbs as Energy Costs Surge


(MENAFN) Belgium’s annual inflation rate climbed to 4.69% in September, reaching its highest level since May 2023 as rising energy costs continued to push consumer prices higher, official figures showed Tuesday.

The rate increased from 3.97% in August, while consumer prices advanced 0.39% from the previous month.

Energy inflation accelerated sharply to 24.37% from 16.47% in August, adding 2.15 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate. Motor fuel prices were 33.9% higher than they were a year earlier.

Diesel prices surged 44.1% year-on-year, while natural gas became 34.9% more expensive and gasoline prices rose 29.4%. The cost of package holidays also increased by 22.8% compared with September last year.

On a monthly basis, natural gas prices climbed 6.9%, motor fuels rose 6.5% and electricity prices increased 4.2%. Package holidays and domestic heating oil also contributed to the monthly rise in consumer prices.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, edged up to 3% from 2.99% in August. Services inflation reached 5.25%, while food prices, including alcoholic beverages, declined 0.28% compared with the same month a year earlier.

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