As of October 30, 2023, initial estimates from the National Bank indicate that the Belgian economy has experienced a 0.5% expansion during the third quarter of the year. This growth marks a

significant acceleration compared to the earlier quarters of the current year.

The preliminary assessment reveals a slight downturn of 0.6% in the industrial sector between the beginning of July and the end of September. In contrast, the services sector demonstrated robust growth, increasing by 0.8%. Furthermore, the construction sector saw a 0.6% upswing.

This indicates that the Belgian economy is currently advancing at a quicker pace than in the previous four quarters. In the second quarter, growth was at 0.3%, and in the initial three months of the year, Belgium's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 0.4%.

In addition, there is favorable news concerning inflation. In October, the annual inflation rate in Belgium dropped to 0.36%, marking its lowest level since January 2021. In the months prior, prices were 2.39% higher in September and 4.09% higher in August, as reported by Statbel.

Belgium has not experienced inflation rates below 2%, which is the medium-term target set by the European Central Bank, since June 2021. At the end of the previous year, Belgian inflation even exceeded 10% for several months.

However, it is important to note that food inflation remains elevated, registering at 8.98% in October, although it is a decline from 11.15% in September. This reduction is primarily attributed to lower prices of energy products, such as natural gas, which is now 77% cheaper than a year ago, and electricity, which is 50.7% more affordable.

Conversely, some products have seen price increases compared to October of the previous year, including olive oil (+23.6%), potatoes (+22.9%), hotels (+22.1%), eggs (+20.4%), and sugar (+19.8%). Photo by MADe at Dutch Wikipedia.