Inflation decreased by 0.4 percent in October, making daily life slightly cheaper compared to the same month last year. The fact that this figure is negative is “entirely” due to energy prices, which were still very high a year ago. That writes the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Wednesday.
If energy prices are not taken into account, the inflation rate is still 5.1 percent – which was still 5.5 percent in September. Prices for daily groceries, drinks and tobacco were 8.7 percent higher than a year earlier. Last month the same figure was 10 percent. Compared to September, consumer prices rose by 0.5 percent this month.
Energy prices, including fuel, have a major effect on the inflation rate. Energy prices fell more than 40 percent this month compared to a year earlier. That was already 38 percent in September.
The figures have been calculated on the basis of a so-called ‘rapid estimate’, the source data for which is not yet complete. The full inflation figures will be published by Statistics Netherlands on November 7.