Inflation accelerated in August for the second month running as consumer prices rose by 3.97% year-on-year, according to the statistics office Statbel on Friday.
Inflation indicates the extent to which consumer goods are becoming more expensive. At the start of this year, it was well below 2%, but, driven by the war in the Middle East, it accelerated to over 4% in April. In June and July, inflation hovered around 3.5%, but it is now approaching the 4% mark once again.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, did fall, however. It dropped from 3.13% in July to 2.99% in August.
Compared with August last year, data storage devices in particular became more expensive: the price of items such as hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards rose by almost half (+45.1%) over the course of a year.
Belgian residents are also having to pay considerably more for energy products, with diesel (+33.4%) leading the way. Natural gas is a quarter more expensive than in August 2025 and petrol a fifth. Package holidays now also cost a fifth more than a year ago.
On the other hand, prices fell most notably for fresh berries (-15.3%) – fruit vegetables and fresh fruit also became cheaper – power banks (-12.2%) and smartphones (-10.2%).
