Inflation falls back to 3.3% in January, new pay rises hit 4.5%

The annual rate of inflation fell to 3.3% in January, well down from the December figure of 4.1%, the national statistics agency CBS said on Monday.
Month on month, the downturn was 0.3 percentage points. The drop means inflation is now back at the same level as in June last year.
There are, however, significant seasonal differences when comparing the month-on-month change, CBS said. For example, plane tickets are more expensive during the holiday period. Food and drink were slightly more expensive in January, but the price of fuel decreased.
Calculated according to European methods, inflation in the Netherlands was 2.9% in January, compared with 3.9% in December. The EU figures are based on the cost of living in one’s own home and do not take the cost of rental housing into account.
Wage rises
Employers’ organisation AWVN warned on Monday that wage deals sealed last month amounted to an average pay increase of 4.5%. Seven agreements were finalised last month, covering 20,000 employers.
The agreements are still for rises higher than inflation and “this is boosting company costs and damaging their competitiveness,” a spokesman told Nu.nl. “We must look on a company and sector-wide basis to see what the options are.”
Economists at Rabobank say they expect wages to rise by an average of 5.9% this year and 4.8% in 2026. This is largely due to the continuing shortage of skilled staff, RaboResearch said.
The FNV trade union federation had set a target of 7% wage rises this year.
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