On Wednesday 4 October 2023, Luxembourg's statistical institute, STATEC, announced that the annual inflation rate had dropped to 4.1% (down from 4.2% one month earlier).
In September 2023, STATEC recorded a modest increase of 0.1% in the national consumer price index, that hides certain opposing price movements which neutralise each other at the detailed level of the consumption basket, STATEC noted.
For the fourth consecutive month, the trend for the prices of petroleum products was on the rise. In September, the price of diesel increased by 4.9% and the price of petrol increased by 1.8%. A full tank thus cost 7.3% more than during the previous month. Despite this recovery, the prices of petroleum products nevertheless remained 0.6% lower than in the same month last year.
Food prices decreased by 0.3% compared to August 2023. The biggest decreases were seen for fresh fish (down 5.1%), baby food (down 3.1%) and breakfast cereals ( down 2.3%). In terms of food price increases, whole milk (up 2.3%), sugar (up 2.2%) and butter (up 1.1%) stood out. In annual comparison, food prices as a whole have increased by 8.8%.
The evolution of service prices showed stability compared to August 2023, which hid contrary situations: on the one hand, travel costs reduced the monthly result the most. The prices of package holidays thus fell by 10.4% and those of plane tickets by 28.6% compared to the month of August due to the end of the school holidays. On the other hand, the effect of the indexation of salaries on 1 September 2023 has had an impact on other sections: the prices of retirement and care homes increased by 2.2% in one month. In addition, the prices of home maintenance services (up 1.4%) and vehicles (up 0.9%) were adjusted upwards, as were the prices of hairdressing salons (up 0.8%). Price increases were also noted in the catering sector (up 0.8%) and for financial services (up 1.7%). STATEC also noted that the pricing of medical and dental services is mechanically linked to the indexation of salaries.
The annual inflation rate thus stood at 4.1% compared to 4.2% a month earlier. The underlying annual inflation rate lost 0.2 percentage points and stood at 4.3% in September 2023. The general index for the month of September expressed in base 100 in 2015 amounted to 121.74 points.The half-yearly average of the index connected to the 1.1.1948 base went from 989.04 to 992.93 points. The next wage indexation will be triggered when the value of 1013.46 is reached.
