Dutch consumer prices soaring – data   

Inflation has risen for two months in a row, the government statistics service has reported

Annual inflation in the Netherlands rose for the second month in a row and reached 6.1% in May, preliminary data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) released on Thursday showed. 

Growth in consumer prices has accelerated in recent months, increasing from 4.4% in March to 5.2% in April on an annual basis. The trend has largely been driven by energy prices, which fell less significantly in May than in the previous month, the report said. 

The costs of food, beverages and tobacco have also contributed to the uptick in Dutch price increases. Grocery inflation in May eased slightly to 12.8% from the April figure of 13.2%, but was still above expectations. 

Prices of industrial goods rose by 8.9% in May from 8.3% the previous month. Meanwhile, energy including motor fuel was 18.5% cheaper last month following a more than 22% decline in April, figures showed. 

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However, the cost of services such as cafes, bars and amusement parks climbed to 6.1% from 6% in April, CBS said. 

The CBS figure based on the harmonized European measurement method, which does not include the impact of rental housing showed that inflation in the Netherlands was 6.8% in May, a full percentage point higher than in April.

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