Dutch inflation rises to 3.4% in September as motor fuel prices climb
Statistics Netherlands said higher motor fuel prices, led by diesel, were the main reason for the rise, while food was 1.7% cheaper than a year earlier.
AI illustrationConsumer prices in the Netherlands were 3.4% higher in September than a year earlier, Statistics Netherlands said, up from an annual rate of 3.3% in August. The September figure matched the flash estimate published on 2 October.
Higher motor fuel prices were the main reason inflation rose, according to the statistics office. Motor fuel prices were up 27.2% on a year earlier, compared with an annual increase of 23.4% in August, with diesel showing the steepest rise. Diesel averaged 2.499 euros a litre in September, against 2.369 euros in August, and petrol cost 2.448 euros a litre, up from 2.333 euros. Mobile charges also pushed inflation upward.
Food pulled the other way. Food prices were 1.7% lower than a year earlier in September, after an annual decline of 0.7% in August.
Of the 3.4% rate, housing and utilities contributed 1.03 percentage points and transport 1.02 points, while food and non-alcoholic beverages subtracted 0.21 points.
Measured from month to month, consumer prices rose 0.1% between August and September. The office said September prices have on average been level with August prices over the past ten years.
On the European harmonised index, known as the HICP, Dutch inflation rose to 3.0% in September from 2.8% in August. Across the euro area as a whole, the rate climbed from 3.2% to 3.8%, above the Dutch level. The statistics office said food, beverages and tobacco cost less than a year earlier in the Netherlands but more across the euro area. The annual rise in energy prices, including motor fuels, was 18.8% in the euro area against 14.0% in the Netherlands.