Goods and services in the Netherlands were on average 10% more expensive in 2022 than in 2021, national statistics agency CBS said on Tuesday.

That is the highest rate since 1975 when inflation averaged 10.2%, the CBS said.

Inflation was driven by soaring energy prices, which cost an average of 114% more than in 2021. In total, energy costs contributed 4.6 percentage point of the 2022 rate. Food was almost 11% more expensive than a year ago and petrol 18%.

The CBS calculations are based on new energy contracts which do not reflect the actual situation facing households and companies with year-long contracts. The agency is currently working on developing a new method to better reflect the actual cost of energy to business and consumers in its calculations.

Calculated according to European methods, which exclude the impact of social housing, inflation averaged 11.6% in the Netherlands last year, the CBS said. This is well above the eurozone average of 8.4%, and remains one of the highest figures in Europe.