New figures from the European statistics office Eurostat show that, in November, the Dutch inflation rate rose to its highest level in at least 24 years.
Prices across the Netherlands have been rising for months and, at the beginning of November, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported that inflation in the Netherlands had reached 3,4 percent in October - its highest point since 2002.
But now, it seems that the situation in the Netherlands has only worsened over the past few weeks, as prices have continued to rise. Eurostat reports that last month, prices in the Netherlands were 5,6 percent higher than in November 2020. This marks a significant increase since the end of the summer, when the Dutch inflation rate was “only” 3 percent.
While these are merely provisional figures, the experts at CBS have observed a similar trend: statisticians note that a similarly sharp increase in prices hasn’t been observed since at least 1997.
The same seems to be happening across the continent, with Eurostat reporting an inflation rate of 4,9 percent across the eurozone in November, compared to 4,1 percent in October. The Netherlands currently has one of the highest inflation rates in Europe, with only Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg recording a sharper increase in prices.
Rising prices across the continent have been attributed to various factors, most notably the various lockdowns and restrictions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent sharp increase in energy and petrol prices. Across the eurozone, energy prices have risen by more an 27 percent as a result of major gas shortages in Europe.
With 2022 just around the corner, will these worrying trends continue into the new year? Economists at two of the major Dutch banks, ING and Rabobank, are hopeful that the high inflation rate is only temporary, and that it will drop over the course of next year. For the inflation rate to remain as high as it is, gas and energy prices would have to continue to rise.