Belgium's July 2026 inflation outpaces all neighboring EU countries

In July 2026 Belgium recorded an inflation rate of 3.5 percent, higher than any of its EU neighbours – France (2.4 %), Germany (2.8 %), the Netherlands (2.9 %) and Luxembourg (3.4 %). The surge was driven mainly by energy costs, which rose 14.3 percent year‑on‑year, far above the increases seen in the surrounding countries.

Economist Eric Dor of the IESEG School of Management explained that two factors amplified the price rise: a large share of Belgian households hold variable‑rate energy contracts, so wholesale price spikes are passed through to consumers almost immediately, and Belgium’s consumer‑price‑index methodology gives extra weight to current market offers for new contracts, inflating the headline figure. Even excluding energy, core inflation remained above the regional average.

Dor warned that automatic wage indexation could erode the competitiveness of Belgian firms and strain public finances over the longer term.