Belgium Inflation Rate Edges Up in May

Belgium’s annual inflation edged up to 4.08% in May 2026, from 4.01% in April, marking the highest reading since January 2025. Energy prices increased by 11.2%, following a surge of 10.58% last month, while natural gas inflation edged down to 10.1% from 11.4%. Upward price pressures came mainly from housing and utilities (3.63% vs 3.02%) and transports (7.9% vs 7.8%), followed by restaurantes and hotels (5.85% vs 4.78%) and recreation and culture (8.07% versus 6.85%). In contrast, inflation eased for food (1.19% versus 1.89%), followed by clothing and footwear (2.26% vs 3%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.14% vs 2.46%), comunication (1.86% vs 3.49%) and furnishings (0.38% vs 0.95%). Meanwhile, inflation remained steady for education (2.4%) and health (6.6%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices declined 0.08%, reversing a 1.47% increase in April.

Belgium’s annual inflation rose to 4.01% in April 2026, from 1.65% in March, marking the highest reading since January 2025. Energy prices surged to 10.58%, rebounding from a 4.41% decline in the previous month. Similarly, natural gas prices picked up to 11.4% from a 14.7% drop previously, while motor fuel prices soared by 27.4%. Inflation was primarily driven by stronger price growth in transport, which accelerated to 7.8% from 5.0%, followed by alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (2.46% vs 0.36% in March), information and communication (3.49% vs 2.97%), recreation and culture (6.85% vs 5.27%), and miscellaneous goods and services (1.76% vs 0.96%). At the same time, prices rebounded for food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.89% vs -0.87%) and housing and utilities (3.02% vs -3.00%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 1.47%, the fastest pace since October 2022, following a 0.12% gain in the previous month.

Belgium's annual inflation rose to 1.65% in March 2026, up from 1.45% in February. Despite the uptick, energy prices fell by 4.41%, although less pronounced than the 7.89% drop recorded in the previous month. Similarly, deflation eased for natural gas (-14.1% vs. -14.7%), while motor fuel prices rose by 11.9%. Inflation was primarily driven by stronger price growth in transport, which accelerated to 5.0% from 1.6%, followed by clothing and footwear (3.3% versus 1.0%), recreation and culture (5.3% versus 4.5%), and health (6.6% versus 6.5%). Downward pressures came mainly from housing and utilities (-3.0% versus -2.2%) and food (-0.9% versus 0.7%). Meanwhile, inflation slowed for restaurants and hotels (4.3% versus 5.0%) and was unchanged for furnishings (0%) and education (2.4%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 0.12%, down from an increase of 0.54% in the previous month.