05.01.201700:58:00UTC+00Dutch Inflation At 17-Month High

Dutch consumer price inflation accelerated in December to the highest level in nearly one-and-a-half years, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The consumer price index rose 1.0 percent year-over-year in December, faster than the 0.6 percent increase in November.

This was the strongest inflation since July 2015, when prices had grown the same 1.0 percent.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco held steady at 0.9 percent at the end of the year.

Average annual inflation stood at 0.3 percent in 2016. This was the lowest level in nearly 30 years. In 2015, the annual rate was 0.5 percent.

The EU measure of inflation, or HICP, increased at a faster rate of 0.7 percent yearly in December, after a 0.4 percent rise in the prior month.