Dutch inflation dropped significantly to 0.2% year-on-year in September due to a sharp fall in energy prices, Statistics Netherlands CBS said on Tuesday.

This marks the first time since August 2021 that the Dutch consumer price index fell below European Central Bank's target of 2.0% and it also confirms the flash reading from late September.

In August, consumer prices had risen 3.0% year-on-year, CBS said.

CBS said in a press release energy prices, which dropped from "very high levels" a year earlier, were the main reason why inflation was easing.

It pointed to gas, electricity and district heating costs in particular, which outweighed an increase in motor fuels prices. (Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz and Olivier Sorgho in Gdansk; Editing by Sonali Paul and Jacqueline Wong)