The annual rate of inflation in the Netherlands rose slightly to 2.8% in April, up just 0.1 percentage point on March’s figure, according to a preliminary forecast from national statistics agency CBS.

However, month on month, consumer prices were 1.1% higher, the CBS said. The increase is largely down to higher fuel prices, which were 7.8% up in April when compared with a year ago.

Economists have warned that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East will have a marked effect on inflation, which was 2.4% before the start of the war.

The price of food and services rose just 1.5% in April, down from the 2% annual increase recorded in March, the CBS said.

Calculated according to EU methods, which do not take rental housing into account, inflation was 2.5% in April, down from 2.6% in March.