Dutch Inflation Rises to 2.7% in March

Energy/Fuel Pricing
Compared to February 2023, per-capita expenditures for goods and services in March 2023 were 2.7% higher than one year ago; whereas, when comparing like months, spending increased monthly from February to March 2023 by 0.7%. The strong part of the total increase can be attributed to energy/fuel cost increases, which increased by 6.5% both compared with January and between January 2023 and February 2023 (most of January's price increases were not considered as part of this calculation). This issue and the subsequent increase were directly related to the ongoing regional conflicts in the Iranian -Israeli region that started late in February 2023, resulting in a substantial increase in both oil and natural gas markets throughout March 2023.

Food Services vs. Service Pricing
In March, the increase in food prices increased primarily as a result of higher costs incurred throughout the month, and the increase was approximately 2% from January to February 2023 (1.4% between Jan 2023 and Nov 2022). Service costs, however, only increased 3.8% year over year (4% increase between December 2022 and January 2023). Also, non-fuel industrial goods remained fairly stable for January through March, with the only increase of 0.4% on January 1, the first of two consecutive months, occurring during the months of February and March.

European Inflation Comparison
By way of comparison, in March 2023, HICP (Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices) inflation rates were 2.6% compared to 2.3% for February 2023, according to HICP calculations. Using HICP, this is used in all nations of the E.U. (except for Denmark) to provide easier comparisons of inflation rates among European nations.
Another factor in slightly lower HICP inflation rates than the national published rate is that HICP does not include "costs of ownership" for the housing market, resulting in a slightly higher national HICP compared to national published rates.