German Import Price Inflation At 19-Month Low On Easing Energy Costs

Germany’s import price inflation eased less-than-expected in December to the lowest level in just over one-and-a-half years amid a continued slowdown in the energy prices, data published by Destatis revealed on Tuesday.

Import prices logged a double-digit annual growth of 12.6 percent in December, slower than the 14.5 percent surge in November. Economists had forecast inflation to ease to 12.0 percent.

Further, this was the slowest rate of growth since May 2021, when prices had risen 11.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, import prices dropped at a slower pace of 1.6 percent in December, after a 4.5 percent fall in November. This was the fourth successive monthly decline.

The overall strong inflation in December was still largely driven by a 34.1 percent price increase for imported energy. Import prices for natural gas remain the main reason for the higher energy prices over the last year.

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Excluding energy prices, import prices were 8.2 percent higher than in December 2021, while they fell 0.7 percent from a month ago.

In 2022, overall import price inflation stood at 26.3 percent, which was the strongest annual increase since 1974, when prices had grown 28.7 percent.

Export price inflation also slowed to 10.6 percent in December from 11.6 percent in November. Month-on-month, export prices edged up 0.1 percent, reversing a 0.5 percent fall.

Read more: German Business Confidence At 7-Month High On Stronger Expectations

Data released earlier this month showed that Germany’s consumer price inflation moderated to 8.6 percent in December from 10.0 percent in November. The easing trend was largely attributed to a slowdown in energy inflation amid the government relief measures.

Moderation in energy prices was also a boost for entrepreneurs, as producer price inflation slowed to the lowest level in thirteen months at the end of the year.

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