Dutch inflation climbed to 7.6 percent in January

Inflation in the Netherlands climbed sharply in January to 7.6 percent compared to the same month last year. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported this figure based on the European harmonized method. According to that method, the currency depreciation in December was 6.4 percent. CBS presented the figure in anticipation of the eurozone inflation announcement by the European stats office Eurostat.

Prices have been rising for a long time, partly due to the rapid economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, which has led to shortages of certain materials. Higher food and energy prices are also pushing inflation.

Next week, CBS will release Dutch inflation according to its own calculation method. It is usually slightly lower and stood at 5.7 percent in December. That was the highest level in nearly 40 years. According to CBS, the gas and electricity bill in the last month of 2021 alone was almost 75 percent higher than a year earlier.

The various European countries have slightly different methods for calculating inflation. For example, they give different things more or less weight in the calculations. In order to compare these inflation figures, Eurostat devised the European harmonized method (HICP). According to this method, Dutch inflation for the whole of 2021 was 2.8 percent.