Inflation was 4.4 percent last March, considerably lower than the 8.8 percent in February. This is according to a Friday published first estimate of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In January, products and services were on average 7.6 percent more expensive than one year previously, compared to 9.6 percent last December. According to Statistics Netherlands, the decrease is mainly due to falling energy prices.
The prices of foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco did rise sharply again. Prices of industrial goods also increased further. The average price increase of products in supermarkets remained stable in March at 15 percent compared to last month. The increase in industrial goods prices also remained virtually stable compared to last month: 8.8 percent against 8.7 percent in February. Energy, including motor fuels, on the other hand, became more than 28 percent cheaper after a price drop of 1.1 percent in February.
It is already the sixth month in a row that inflation in the Netherlands has fallen. At the peak in September last year, inflation was still 14.5 percent. The fall in inflation in the Netherlands is in line with a European trend. Earlier this week it appeared that inflation had also decreased in Germany and Spain in March. On Friday afternoon, the European statistics office Eurostat will publish the inflation figures for the entire eurozone.