Inflation in Belgium continued its upward trend in March to reach 1.65%, compared to 1.45% in February, the Belgian statistics office Statbel announced on Monday.
In contrast to overall inflation, inflation based on the health index declined, falling from 1.68% last month to 1.38% in March.
The smoothed health index, which serves as a benchmark for indexing public sector wages and social benefits, now stands at 99.38 points.
Core inflation, which excludes changes in the prices of energy products and unprocessed food, also registered a slight decrease, reaching 2.71% this month, compared to 2.78% in February.
The consumer price index rose by 0.12 points in March, representing an increase of 0.12%. The main price increases recorded during the past month were for fuels and package holidays.
Conversely, electricity, meat, alcoholic beverages, hotel rooms, and airline tickets had a downward effect on the index.
Regarding energy, inflation stands at -4.41% this month, compared to -7.89% in February and -9.24% in January.
For electricity, inflation is currently at -6.6%, compared to -2.1% last month. For natural gas, inflation has risen from -14.1% last month to -14.7% this month.
The price of natural gas increased by 0.2% compared to the previous month, while the price of electricity decreased by 4.4%. The price of heating oil, averaged over 12 months, has fallen by 6.97% over the past year.
Fuels cost 11.9% more than in March of last year and have increased by 13.8% this month compared to the previous month.
