Consumer price index for July 2025
- Inflation goes down from 2.15% to 1.92% in July.
- The consumer price index has increased by 0.66 points or 0.49% this month.
- Inflation based on the health index has fallen from 2.37% in June to 2.08% in July.
- The smoothed health index stood at 132.29 points in July.
- Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 2.36% in July, compared to 2.63% in June.
- The most significant price increases in July were registered for plane tickets, hotel rooms, motor fuels, meat, package holidays in Belgium, restaurants and cafés and electricity. However, travels abroad and city trips have had a decreasing effect on the index.
Inflation amounts to 1.92% this month compared to 2.15% in June and 2.01% in May. Inflation based on the health index stands at 2.08% this month compared to 2.37% in June. Inflation without energy amounts to 2.41% in July compared to 2.66% in June and 2.43% in May. Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 2.36% in July, compared to 2.63% in June and 2.59% in May.
Comment on inflation
With regard to energy, inflation stands at -1.86% this month compared to -1.75% in June and -1.10% in May. For electricity, inflation is currently at 11.8% compared to 11.4% last month. For natural gas, it decreases from 6.2% last month to 3.0% this month. Compared to last month, natural gas prices decreased by 0.5% and electricity prices increased by 1.1%. Prices for domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, have decreased by 14.4% in one year. Motor fuels cost 5.4% less than in July last year and increased by 2.4% this month compared to the previous month.
Inflation for services has decreased to 3.27 % from 3.57 %. Inflation for rents has increased to 4.20% from 4.09%. Food inflation (including alcoholic beverages) now stands at 2.98% compared to 3.14% last month.
Energy inflation goes from -1.75% in June to -1.86% in July and accounts for -0.23 percentage points to total inflation. With an inflation of 2.98%, food products account for 0.56 percentage points.
The price of natural gas has decreased by 0.5% in July compared to the previous month. The price of electricity has increased by 1.1% on average this month.
Some products and services that rose sharply in price compared to July last year are:
| Upward: | Inflation |
|---|---|
| Domestic services | 21.8% |
| Cigarettes | 17.6% |
| Beef and veal | 14.9% |
| Jewellery | 14.4% |
| Coffee | 12.6% |
| Electricity | 11.8% |
| Passenger transport by bus | 11.6% |
Some products and services that fell sharply in price compared to July last year are:
| Downward: | Inflation |
|---|---|
| Video equipment (television) | -19.3% |
| Smartphones | -15.4% |
| Domestic heating oil | -14.4% |
| Plane tickets | -13.7% |
| Computers | -11.8% |
| Mobile telephone services | -9.5% |
| Washing machines, dryers and dishwashers | -8.1% |
The main group with the largest upward effect[i] on inflation in July was ‘Hotels, cafés and restaurants’ with an effect of 0.25 percentage points. The largest downward effect was measured for “Transport” (-0.40 percentage points).
The main group with the largest contribution[ii] to inflation is “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” with 0.54 percentage points. The lowest contribution to inflation was registered by the main group “Clothing and footwear”, with -0.16 percentage points.
The first inflation estimate according to the European harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP flash estimate) amounts to 2.6 % in July 2025.
Comment on the level of the indices
The consumer price index rose by 0.66 points or 0.49% in July and now stands at 135.36 points, compared to 134.70 points in June (2013=100). The health index went up by 0.56 point to 135.60 points in July, compared to 135.04 points in June. The smoothed health index stood at 132.29 points in July. The next central index for public service and social benefits is set at 133.28 points.
The most significant price increases in July were registered for plane tickets, hotel rooms, motor fuels, meat, package holidays in Belgium, restaurants and cafés and electricity. However, travels abroad and city trips have had a decreasing effect on the index.
The most important trends this month are:
| Upward: | Effect: | Downward: | Effect: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plane tickets | 0.210 points | Travels abroad and city trips | -0.095 points |
| Hotel rooms | 0.155 points | ||
| Motor fuels | 0.105 points | ||
| Meat | 0.050 points | ||
| Package holidays in Belgium | 0.045 points | ||
| Restaurants and cafés | 0.045 points | ||
| Electricity | 0.045 points |
Plane ticket prices rose by an average of 36.5% this month. Hotel room prices increased by an average of 12.8% this month. Motor fuels were on average 2.4% more expensive this month. Meat costs on average 1.0% more. The price of package holidays in Belgium rose by an average of 11.2%. Prices for restaurants and cafés increased by 0.5 % on average. Electricity was on average 1.1% more expensive than in the previous month.
Prices for travels abroad and city trips decreased by 3.4% on average.
| 2013 = 100 | April | May | June | July |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer price index | 134.44 | 134.23 | 134.70 | 135.36 |
| Inflation | 2.55% | 2.01% | 2.15% | 1.92% |
| Health index | 134.77 | 134.54 | 135.04 | 135.60 |
| Smoothed health index* | 132.79 | 132.55 | 132.36 | 132.29 |
| * defined in the law of 23 April 2015 on the promotion of employment (Belgian Official Journal of 27 April 2015) | ||||
[i] The effect on inflation shows the changes on the inflation rate by including this product group in the CPI calculation. The effect not only takes the weight of the product group into account, but it also takes into account whether the product group inflation is higher or lower than that of the total expenditure (overall CPI).
[ii] The contribution to inflation of a specific product group shows how much of the change in the total expenditure is due to the price variation of this product group.