Inflation accelerated in August for the second month running as consumer prices rose by 3.97 per cent 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 per cent, but, driven by the war in the Middle East, it accelerated to over 4 per cent in April. In June and July, inflation hovered around 3.5 per cent, but it is now approaching the 4 per cent mark once again.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, did fall, however. It dropped from 3.13 per cent in July to 2.99 per cent 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 per cent) over the course of a year. We are also having to pay considerably more for energy products, with diesel (+33.4 per cent) 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 per cent) – fruit vegetables and fresh fruit also became cheaper – power banks (-12.2 per cent) and smartphones (-10.2 per cent).
