Go behind the scenes at Belgian Prime News, a quarterly publication with contributions by experts from the National Bank of Belgium and the Belgian Debt Agency as well as senior economists. Read the article on our blog to learn more. From now on, blog articles will be available in English, too!

In the euro area, 12% of prices are adjusted each month. One third of these adjustments are price cuts which, on average, are more significant than price increases. The frequency and scale of these price adjustments vary greatly from one sector to another. For example, prices for services (6%) are adjusted less often than those for unprocessed foods (31%).

Consumer confidence plummets in September. Rising energy prices, inflation and the war in Ukraine are weighing heavily on consumer sentiment. Consumers are pessimistic about both the Belgian economy as a whole and their personal situation.

Read the market release by the National Bank of Belgium here.

According to the latest foreign trade figures, Belgium had a record trade deficit of €5.5 billion in July 2022, mainly due to rising energy prices. Import growth was driven by the arrival on our shores of a new COVID-19 drug, while foreign trade in natural gas continued its strong upward trajectory.