CPI in Belgium

Measures the change in prices of a representative basket of goods and services bought by Belgian households. Published by Statbel, it is the country's main inflation gauge and underpins the health index used to update wages, pensions and rents.

Statbel collects thousands of prices each month across the country and aggregates them with household spending weights on a base year (index 100). It is reported as an annual (YoY) and monthly (MoM) rate of change.

In Belgium the CPI has an unusually direct impact because wages and pensions are automatically indexed to the health index, making it especially sensitive. As a euro-area member it also feeds into ECB decisions: a hotter-than-expected print pushes rates and the euro higher.

It captures only the basket's goods and services, not the whole economy. For the underlying trend, watch core inflation, which strips out the more volatile energy and unprocessed food.