Big drop in inflation: 11.2% in November

The rate at which prices are rising in the Netherlands dropped sharply in November compared to the previous month. Inflation was still high, with daily life becoming 11.2 percent more expensive this month than a year earlier, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported based on the European harmonized method. In October, consumer prices rose by 16.8 percent on an annual basis.

Inflation has been very high for some time because of sharp increases in gas and electricity prices. Higher energy costs also reflect in food prices.

Consumers pay more for their daily shopping throughout the eurozone. European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde warned earlier this week that inflation is unlikely to have peaked yet.

The ECB has already raised interest rates several times to bring inflation back to around 2 percent. It will likely raise interest rates in the eurozone again in December.

The inflation figure according to the European harmonized method is always higher than CBS’s own method, which it will publish later. CBS includes the costs of living, like rent, among other things, which the European method doesn’t. The European method was devised to make it easier to compare inflation in different countries.