The inflation rate in the Netherlands fell to 0.6% in September, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.

The drop of 0.2 percentage points on August was due to falling petrol prices which are now 12.5% down on a year ago, the CBS said.

Excluding petrol prices, which fluctuate wildly, and the cost of tobacco and alcohol, inflation was 1.3%, the CBS said. This was unchanged on August.

In January this year, there was no inflation in the Netherlands, a 27-year record.

Calculated according to European guidelines, the Dutch inflation rate was 0.3% last month, which is higher than the EU average of -0.1%.