Consumers in Belgium saw inflation rise to 3.37% in April, as energy costs spiked for the first time in a year, due to the disappearance of certain supports put in place by the Federal Government at the beginning of the energy crisis.
Latest figures from the Belgian statistics agency Statbel showed that annual inflation rose to 3.37% in April, compared to 3.18% in March and 3.20% in February. This means that the monthly costs borne by an average Belgian household were 3.37% higher in April than in the same month in 2023.
For the first time since March 2023, prices in the energy sector rose in April. Energy inflation hit 9.19% this month, compared to -1.61% in March and -5.34% in February.
Statbel highlighted that the increase in energy inflation is due to the disappearance of basic flat-rate supports for electricity and natural gas from the index since March. These supports were part of a raft of measures introduced by the Belgian government between October 2021 and the end of 2023 to offset rising energy prices for households.
For electricity, annual inflation currently stands at 1.9%, compared to -14.9% last month. Meanwhile, the rate of inflation for natural gas prices has risen to 87.5%, from 29% in March.
Month to month, natural gas prices have risen by 2.3% in April, while electricity prices have fallen by 2.3%.
Statbel noted that the disappearance of flat-rate supports will continue to have an upward impact on inflation up to and including March 2025.
Price changes of items in the consumer 'basket'
Besides energy and fuel, the main price rises in April also included the cost of hotel rooms, restaurants and cafés. Meanwhile, there was a drop in the prices of clothing, city trips, pet products and holiday villages.
There were falls in the prices of food products such as dairy products, fruit, meat, breads and cereals, and fish and seafood. Overall inflation for food products (including alcoholic beverages) fell for the 13th month in a row to 0.25% in April, compared to 3.21% in March.
Core inflation – which does not take into account changes in the prices of energy products and unprocessed food products – decreased for the 11th consecutive month and stood at 3.26% in April, compared to 3.85 % in March.
The smoothed health index (a four-month average which is used as the basis for indexation of pensions, social security benefits and some salaries and wages) reached 128.32 points, exceeding the central index for civil service and social benefits which is set at 128.11 points.
Inflation based on the health index rose from 3.09% to 3.28% in the month from March to April.
