Tax increases push up consumer price index to five year high

Photo: Depositphotos.com
Inflation is rising. Photo: Depositphotos.com

The increase in value-added tax combined with higher taxes on energy helped push the Dutch consumer prices index to a five-year high in January, the national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

The price of goods and services rose 2.2% in the first month of 2019, compared with the year earlier period, the CBS said. In December, inflation reached 2%.

In particular, food prices are up an average of 3.3% following the rise in btw from 6% to 9%.

The eurozone rate of inflation is currently around 1.4%.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation