Inflation in the Netherlands was 8.6 percent last month. That is slightly lower than in May, but still very high, reports CBS statistics agency. Food, in particular, became much more expensive.
Foods were significantly more expensive last month: an average of 11.2 percent, compared to a year earlier. This was mainly due to the increased prices of dairy and meat, but grain products, oils and fats, vegetables, fish and fruit also cost more.
According to chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen of Statistics Netherlands, we have to go back a long way to see such numbers. “We’ve been measuring this since 1996 and we haven’t had such a price increase since then. That was probably the last time somewhere in the mid-seventies.”
The fact that inflation across the board is slightly lower than in May, when the figure came in at 8.8 percent, is mainly due to a slightly smaller increase in energy prices. “They weigh quite a bit in the total.” Despite the decline, energy prices also remain high.
The slightly lower prices for energy are largely offset by the increased prices of food, drinks and fuel.
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