The prices of food, gas, and furniture have particularly soared in Luxembourg over the past year.

Inflation is on the rise and Luxembourg's residents are already paying the price. Over the past year, the value of many essential goods has risen significantly.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (STATEC), prices have risen by 6.1% over one year. This led to a new wage indexation being triggered on 1 April. This was automatically followed by increases in social minima and student grants. On the other hand, the prices of medical care providers also increased.

To calculate inflation, STATEC measures the evolution of prices of numerous products. Its report published at the beginning of April shows strong variations over a year. Housing and energy have both risen by 12%. For food and furniture, the increase was nearly 4%. Transport prices increased by over 10%.

A closer look at recent price increases

In concrete terms, between March 2021 and March 2022, the price of bread and cereals rose by 5.27%. Meat has risen by 5.61% and fish by 9.09%. The same goes for eggs (+3.10%) and vegetables (+2.24%). Only the price of fruit is falling (-1.20%). Popular breakfast items are also affected: +6.78% for coffee, tea, and cocoa. And +1.75% for honey, sugar, chocolate, and jam.

But inflation hits particularly hard in the areas of housing and transport. Although rents have only increased by 1.88% on average, heating and cooking with gas costs 87.38% more than in March 2021. Products used for maintenance work and home repair services have also not escaped inflation: +5.91%. Decorating your home will also cost you more, as prices for furniture and other decorative items have increased by 7.58%.

As for transport, it should no longer come as a surprise that fuel prices have soared: +39.90%. The price of petrol also increased slightly on Tuesday.

Leisure activities are also affected. In particular reading, with +1.76% for books and 4.61% for newspapers and magazines. Or +6.44% for cultural services. It has also become more expensive to visit restaurants and bars, with a price increase of +4.33%. Beauty services, e.g. hairdressers and beauty salons, have increased their prices by +3.34%.

The few price decreases were for pharmaceutical products (-0.19%, stable) and "telephone and fax services" (-0.35%). The price of information equipment also fell (-1.09%), as did package holidays (-1.75%), and transport insurance (-1.03%).