August 1, 2022

  • Inflation falls slightly from 9.65% to 9.62% in July.
  • The consumer price index this month increases by 1.01 points or 0.83%.
  • Inflation based on the health index has increased to 9.07% from 8.72%.
  • The smoothed health index now stands at 118.39 points. The central index for public service and social benefits, set at 118.36 points, was therefore exceeded.
  • The high inflation this month, as in recent months, is largely due to high energy prices. Energy currently has an inflation rate of 49.11% and accounts for 4.34 percentage points of the total inflation.
  • Furthermore, inflation for food products has also sharply increased in recent months. Inflation for food products (including alcoholic beverages) stands at 9.24% this month, The contribution of food products to inflation currently amounts to 1.82 percentage points.
  • Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 5.49% in July, compared to 5.07% in June. A consequence of increased inflation for processed food and services.
  • The main price increases in July concerned airplane tickets, hotel rooms, fire insurance, meat, electricity, dairy products, domestic heating oil, the purchases of vehicles and road tax. However, motor fuels, city trips, alcoholic beverages and private rents had a decreasing effect on the index.

The inflation rate in July was 9.62% compared to 9.65% in June and 8.97% in May. Inflation based on the health index amounted to 9.07% this month compared to 8.72% in June and 8.34% in May. Inflation without energy rose to 5.76% compared to 5.26% in June and 4.53% in May. Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 5.49% in July, compared to 5.07% in June and 4.43% in May.

Inflation for services has risen from 4.65% to 5.08%. Inflation for rents increased from 3.60% to 3.74%. Inflation for food products (including alcoholic beverages) stands at 9.24% this month, compared to 8.44% last month. This inflation has sharply increased in recent months. In November, it was still 0.47%. Inflation for oils, fish, dairy products, bread and cereals and meat has sharply increased in recent months. Inflation for oils stands this month at 21.3%. In November, it was still 3.6%. For fish, inflation is now 11.4% compared to -0.4% in November. Inflation for dairy products amounts to 13.6% this month compared to 0.6% in November. For bread and cereals, it stands this month at 11.4% compared to 1.7% in November. Inflation for meat amounts this month to 9.8% compared to 0.8% in November.

The sharp increase in inflation since autumn 2021 is largely due to energy products. Energy inflation is now running at 49.11%, compared to 55.99% in June and 56.80% in May. Electricity is now 44.7% more expensive than a year ago. Natural gas is 97.0% more expensive than in July last year. The price of domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, increased by 68.9% in one year. Motor fuels are 29.3% more expensive than last year.

The high inflation is mainly due to the high energy prices. Energy currently has an inflation rate of 49.11% and accounts for 4.34 percentage points of the total inflation. Food, with an inflation rate of 9.24%, contributes 1.82 percentage points.

The price of natural gas has increased by 1.0% on average compared to the previous month. Prices for electricity have gone up by 1.7% on average this month.

Source: STATBEL
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