Belgium’s annual inflation rate decreased to 2.34% in December of 2018 from 2.78% in the previous month. It was the lowest inflation rate since August, as cost slowed for housing & utilities (4.54% from 5.79% in November); food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.47% from 1.88%); transport (2.81% from 3.69%); miscellaneous goods & services (1.33% from 1.41%); restaurant & hotels (2.37% from 2.66%); communication (0.05% from 0.82%); health (0.54% from 0.59%) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (4.04% from 4.05%). On the other hand, prices rose faster for recreation & culture (3.13% from 2.53%); furniture & household equipment (0.93% from 0.80%) and clothing & footwear (0.34% from 0.26%) while inflation was steady for education (1.37%, the same as in November). On a monthly basis, consumer prices went down 0.24%, after a 0.16% gain in November. Inflation Rate in Belgium averaged 5.67 percent from 1921 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 222.81 percent in January of 1947 and a record low of -18.11 percent in October of 1921.
Inflation Rate in Belgium is expected to be 2.70 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate in Belgium to stand at 3.10 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Belgium Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 2.70 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.