According to Luxembourg's statistical institute, STATEC, the annual rate of inflation in the Grand Duchy has increased from 3.6% to 6.6% over one month.
Following the monthly decline in January 2022 due to the winter sales, the national consumer price index (IPCN), calculated by STATEC, climed by 2.2% in February 2022.
This development is mainly explained by rising costs in petroleum products. In February, diesel prices were up 6.2% than in January, while petrol prices were 4.9%. The cost of heating oil (mazout) rose by 12.1% over one month, whilst that of town gas (coal gas) increased by 6.3%. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the prices of petroleum products are up 51.7%.
After a 3.2% drop in January, the electricity prices were adjusted upwards for a few suppliers in February, resulting in an average increase of 6.0%. In annual comparison, electricity prices are 2.6% higher.
In addition to the surge in energy prices, the prices of clothing and footwear were up 15.8% compared to the month of January. Items relating to furniture, household appliances, personal and household equipment were also up 2.4%.
Food prices increased by 0.7% over one month. The most significant increases were recorded for pasta and couscous (up 5.7%), fresh seafood (up 5.9%), bread (up 4.4%) fresh vegetables (up 3.1%), whilst price drops were recorded for pasta and couscous pizzas and quiches (down 2.9%), fresh fish (down 3.4%) and jam and honey (down 2.7%). Over one year, food prices were 3.5% higher.
Package holiday prices increased by 10.2%, whilst flight prices rose by 22.1% compared to December.
The annual inflation rate stood at 6.6% against 3.6% a month earlier, and the annual core inflation rate gained 2.9% to reach 4.3% in February.
Excluding the effect winter sales in January, the annual inflation rate stands at 5.5% and underlying inflation at 3.2%.
The general index for the month of January expressed in base 100 in 2015 was 113.64 points.
