According to the final report from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in December, consumer prices rose by 2.6% per year, as expected, after an increase of 2.2% per year in November. The latest reading was the highest since January. Inflation was fuelled by above-average price increases for services. In particular, the decline in energy prices slowed further in December.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.5%, as expected, after falling by 0.2% in November. This was the strongest price increase since April.
The data also showed that in December, energy prices fell by 1.6% per year after declining by 3.7% per year in November. The prices of mineral oil products were significantly lower in December (-3.8%, of which heating oil: -10.0%; motor fuels: -3.3%). Compared with December 2023, electricity prices were down 2.9%. By contrast, natural gas cost 3.9% more than a year earlier, and the price of district heating was up by as much as 30.7%.
Meanwhile, excluding food and energy prices, the rate of inflation in December would have been +3.3%. This illustrates that inflation was above average in other important product groups.
Destatis said that in December, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Germany with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.7% on a monthly basis and by 2.8% per year. In November, HICP fell by 0.7% m/m and rose by 2.8% per annum.