Despite the recent drop in fuel prices, energy remains much more expensive than a year ago. This, in part, triggered the wage indexation in October, which increased salaries by 2,5%.
Compared to November 2020, the prices of petroleum products have risen dramatically. The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (STATEC) estimates the increase at +60%.
The trend is “particularly noticeable for heating oil”, the average price of which has more than doubled over one year. On 19 November 2021, a litre of heating oil was sold at €0.781, compared to €0.398 on 14 November 2020.
Earlier this autumn, Eurostat estimated that Luxembourg was the European country where fuel prices increased the most: +31%. By way of comparison, this is the price evolution based on observations made directly at petrol stations between 14 November 2020 and 19 November 2021:
Of course these are not the only products affected by price increases. Expenditure on housing (+9.58%), transport (+9.39%), leisure (+3.54%), as well as hotels and restaurants (+2.85%) is also higher. “In a yearly comparison, food prices are 1.4% higher”, STATEC reports. Airline tickets have also seen their prices shoot through the roof: +25.3% over one year.
If prices continue to increase at this rate, STATEC expects the next wage indexation to be triggered as early as spring 2022.
