The inflation rate in Germany has again declined. Preliminary estimates published by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden show that the cost of goods and services in Germany increased by 3.8 per cent on average in October over the same period last year. This is the lowest inflation rate in the country since August 2021.
The decline in inflation was better than the expert expectations. Previously, the number of economists interviewed by Reuters was expected to be 4 per cent. This also follows the recent trend of declining inflation: in September, the consumer price of the population in Germany increased by 4.5 per cent over the same period and in August by 6.1 per cent. At the beginning of this year, the decimal point was ahead of eight.
Source: Anton Vester.
Statisticians explained that the main disincentive to current inflation was energy prices: in Germany, energy prices fell by 3.2 per cent compared to October 2022. The last time energy prices fell at the same rate, dating back to January 2021.
Holger Schmidting, the chief economist at Belenberg Bank, based in Hamburg, commented: “The rate of decline in inflation in Germany is almost as high as it was when it peaked in the autumn of 2022”. The decline in fuel, electricity, natural gas, heating oil and centralized heating prices compared to September, as well as the base effect of higher energy and food prices during the same period last year, are considered to have placed significant downward pressure on inflation in October.
However, the prices of some commodities were still significantly higher than in the same period last year, with the most significant increase in food prices, 6.1 per cent the same year. The price of bread was 11.1 per cent higher than a year ago, 1.2 per cent higher than in September; meat was 3.9 per cent more expensive. In addition, dairy products and eggs were 4.4 per cent more expensive than a year ago and vegetables 1.3 per cent more expensive.
Source: dpaimago stock&people
The sharpest price increase was for fruit: the price of fruit in October, according to statistics, was 10 per cent higher than a year ago and was 2.1 per cent higher than a month earlier.
As prices for goods closely related to life, such as food, continue to rise significantly, ordinary consumers may not be able to feel the current improvement in inflation.
A comment by a commenter in the German media “Time Online” is representative: “The price of butter was 1.09 euros, and now it's 1.79 euros, and you tell me that inflation is only 3.8%? It's a long time ago."
(German version of the German edition of the European Times, reproduced with the public name German Report)