December 8, 2022

Consumer price index of November 2022 in Belgium

  • Inflation decreased from 12.27% to 10.63% in November.
  • The consumer price index decreased by 0.29 points or 0.23% this month.
  • Inflation based on the health index decreased to 10.63%, down from 12.27%.
  • The smoothed health index amounted to 123.47 points in November. The central index for public service and social benefits, set at 123.14 points, has been exceeded.
  • The high inflation this month, as in recent months, is largely due to high energy prices. Energy inflation is now running at 36.07% and accounts for 3.62 percentage points of total inflation.
  • Inflation for food products has also risen sharply in recent months. Food inflation (including alcoholic beverages) now stands at 14.48%. The contribution of food products to inflation currently amounts to 2.76 percentage points.
  • Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 7.16% in November, compared to 6.50% in October. This is due to the increase in inflation for processed food products and services.
  • The most significant price increases in November were registered for alcoholic beverages, clothing, travels abroad, vegetables, restaurants and cafés, dairy products and bread and cereals. However, electricity, natural gas, holiday villages, non-durable household goods and maintenance charges in multi-occupied buildings have had a decreasing effect on the index.

Inflation amounts to 10.63% in November compared to 12.27% in October and 11.27% in September. Inflation based on the health index amounts to 10.63% this month compared to 12.27% in October and 11.25% September. Inflation without energy increased to 7.80%, compared to 6.97% in October and 6.44% in September. Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 7.16% in November, compared to 6.50% in October and 6.21% in September.

The sharp increase in inflation since the autumn 2021 is largely due to energy products. Energy inflation is now running at 36.07%, compared to 63.03% last month and 60.54% in September. Electricity is now 41.9% more expensive than a year ago. Natural gas is 64.3% more expensive than in November last year. Prices for domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, have increased by 51.0% in a year. Motor fuels are now 13.6% more expensive than a year ago.

Inflation for services has increased to 5.49% up from 5.22%. Inflation for rents has risen from 4.44% to 4.96%. Food inflation (including alcoholic beverages) now stands at 14.48% compared to 12.30% last month. This inflation has increased sharply in recent months. In November last year, it was still 0.47%.

In particular, inflation for oils, fish, dairy products, bread and cereals and meat has sharply increased in recent months. Inflation for oils stands this month at 25.3%. In November 2021, it was still 3.6%. For fish, inflation is now 13.9% compared to -0.4% in November 2021. Inflation for dairy products amounts to 20.6% this month compared to 0.6% in November 2021. For bread and cereals, it stands at 16.7% this month compared to 1.7% in November last year. Inflation for meat amounts to 14.2% this month compared to 0.8% in November 2021.

The high inflation is still mainly due to the high energy prices. Energy inflation is now running at 36.07% and accounts for 3.62 percentage points of total inflation. With an inflation of 14.48%; food products account for 2.76 percentage points.

The price of natural gas has decreased by 11.4% on average compared to the previous month. The price of electricity has decreased by 13.5% on average this month.

The main group with the largest upward effect on inflation in November was ‘Housing, water and energy’ with an effect of 2.27 percentage points. The largest downward effect was measured for ‘Recreation and culture’ (-0.47 percentage points)

Source: STATBEL
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