Dutch inflation was 1.6 per cent in 2007, a slight rise from 2006 but still "very low" compared to other European countries, the Dutch central statistics office said.

"It is the fourth consecutive year that prices rose less than two per cent," the statistics bureau CBS added. Inflation came to 2.1 per cent in the Euro zone in 2007, according to the statistics agency Eurostat.

Dutch authorities said the low inflation figure last year was mainly due to cheap audio, video and computer equipment, where prices fell 12 per cent.

A three percent drop in prices for telephone and internet services have also helped to hold down inflation. Energy prices boosted inflation as they rose 4.1 per cent compared to the same figure in 2006.