Inflation in Belgium held steady in September, as food price inflation is continuing to fall from peaks in early 2023.
Latest figures from Belgium's statistical office Statbel, based on the European harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), show that inflation reached 4.3% last month, the same as in August. Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 1.6% in September, down from 1.8% the previous month.
Food prices
Food prices shot up in spring 2022, with food inflation reaching a peak of 20.3% in March 2023, driven by a number of factors including extreme weather, higher input costs and supply chain disruptions.
Since then, food inflation has been gradually decreasing. Inflation for oils stood at 6.7% in September, compared to 31.3% in March 2023. Dairy prices are going down, with inflation at -0.7% in September compared to 31% in March of last year.
Inflation for fish is at 2.1%, compared to 17.2% in March 2023, while rate of inflation for meat was at 1.7% in September, compared to 16.8% in March 2023.
The types of products with the largest upward effect on inflation last month were natural gas, tobacco and electricity. Meanwhile, the biggest downward impact was from motor fuels, domestic heating oil, bread and cereals, and furniture.
Energy
While the rate of energy inflation was still at 11% in September, Statbel noted that this is not due to an increase in energy costs but a consequence of the phasing out of government energy supports.
Still, electricity is now 14.8% more expensive than a year ago, and natural gas is 138.1% more expensive than last September, while the price of domestic heating oil has fallen by 25.6% compared to last year.
Core inflation, which does not take into account prices for energy products and unprocessed food, stood at 3.6% in September, compared to 3.7% in August and 3.6% in July.
A final HICP comparison of EU Member States will be published by Eurostat on 17 October.
