Inflation rose to 8 percent in February, especially groceries more expensive

Prices for consumer goods and services were exactly 8 percent higher in February than in the same month last year. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reports this on Tuesday morning. That is a higher figure than in January, when inflation was 7.6 percent.

The new inflation figures also take into account the changing prices of energy and fuel. If these are disregarded, inflation for February even amounts to 8.1 percent. In January that figure was still 7.7 percent, in both cases a tenth of a percent higher.

Gas and electricity cheaper, vegetables and clothing more expensive

Energy prices continue to fall, but the costs of food and clothing, for example, rose, by 18.4 and 11.8 percent respectively. A month earlier, those two figures were still at 17.6 and 9.4 percent. The prices of fresh vegetables in particular have risen sharply. Consumers also had to dig deeper into their pockets when visiting a café or restaurant last month.

It is the first time since September that inflation has risen again. Before the latest measurements, monetary inflation fell for four months in a row. Two weeks ago, Statistics Netherlands published a first estimate of the inflation figures for February, based on European data. With the final calculation for the Dutch situation, this now appears to indeed amount to 8 percent.