Inflation in Belgium drops very slightly to 9.62 percent, and food prices continue to rise

As in previous months, high inflation is again largely due to higher energy prices. Energy is about half more expensive than it was a year ago. In addition, food prices, including alcoholic beverages, have risen sharply in recent months, reaching 9.24 percent in July, compared to 8.44 percent in the previous month.

Air tickets, hotel rooms, fire insurance, meat, electricity, dairy products, home heating oil, vehicle purchases and road taxes have become more expensive in the past month. On the other hand, car fuel, trips to cities, alcoholic drinks and private rentals are becoming cheaper.

The pivot indicator has been crossed again, which means that benefits and pensions will rise again by 2 percent in August and civil servants’ wages in September. This is the fifth transgression in eleven months. The previous overshoot of the pivot index dates back to April.

Economic growth slowed

Belgium’s economic growth also slowed to 0.2% in the second quarter. This is evidenced by the first of the so-called “rapid appreciation” of the National Bank on Thursday. In the first quarter, the economy grew 0.5 percent.

The industry had to contend with a slight contraction (-0.2 percent). In the service sector and in the construction industry, there was a slight growth each time at 0.3 percent.

In the first quarter, the negative development in the industry was more pronounced (-0.8%), but both the services sector (+0.5%) and construction (+0.8%) also posted more green figures.