Inflation continued to soar in June, standing at 9.65%, against 8.97% in May, said Statbel, the Belgian statistics office, on Wednesday. This is the highest level since October 1982, when it reached 9.84%.
All the inflation indicators show an increase in June, both on the basis of the health index (8.72%, against 8.34% in May), the inflation rate excluding energy products (5 .26%, against 4.53% in May) than underlying inflation (5.07%, against 4.43% in May).
Energy and food inflation
Inflation has been steadily climbing in recent months, pushed up by soaring energy prices. Energy inflation reached 55.99% in June, against 56.8% in May. It contributes 4.91 percentage points to total inflation.
Food products also rose sharply, with inflation at 8.44%, compared to 6.32% in May. They contribute 1.67 pp to total inflation.
Indices on the rise
The first estimate of inflation according to the European harmonized index of consumer prices, which allows comparisons with European countries, is 10.5% in June. The difference is mainly due to a different calculation method for heating oil.
The consumer price index rose by 1.03 points in June, to reach 122.04 points.
The health index reached 121.02 points (+0.77) and the smoothed health index 117.58 points. It is approaching the next pivot index for the civil service and social benefits, set at 118.36 points.
Motor fuels, meat, combined telecommunication services, bread and cereals, heating oil, the purchase of vehicles, private rents, soft drinks and dairy products exerted upward pressure on the ‘index. Natural gas, alcoholic beverages, electricity and clothing exerted a downward effect.