November inflation falls to 11.2% as fuel prices plunge

The annual Dutch inflation rate fell sharply to 11.2% in November when calculated according to the European harmonized method, national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday.

In October, inflation had fallen marginally to 16.8%, well above the eurozone average and one of the highest in the EU.

The November drop was particularly notable in fuel costs, which were up 42% year on year in November, compared with almost 100% last month.

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Inflation calculated in line with Dutch methods, which includes the impact of rental housing, will be published on December 8.

The Dutch EU figure would also be considerably less if the CBS used the actual price households pay for energy in its calculations, rather than the price paid for new contracts.

The agency is currently working on a new way of calculating energy prices and expects that to be ready next year.

Rabobank economist Nic Vrieselaar told broadcaster NOS he expected inflation to remain higher than ‘we are used to’ over the past 10 years.

He expects it to drop to 3.6% next year but says it will rise again as the energy price cap is lifted.