German Import Price Inflation Highest Since December 2022

(RTTNews) - Germany's import price inflation accelerated further in August to the highest level in more than three-and-a-half years, data from Destatis showed on Wednesday.

Import prices increased at a faster pace of 8.3 percent on a yearly basis, following July's 6.8 percent rise. The expected inflation rate was 8.0 percent. Moreover, this was he highest rate since December 2022, when prices surged 9.6 percent.

The index rose 1.0 percent monthly in August after a 0.2 percent increase in July.

The acceleration in the annual price growth was mainly driven by a 43.0 percent surge in energy costs, which rose only 7.5 percent in the prior month.

The war in the Middle East continued to have a particularly strong impact on energy prices, the agency said.

Excluding energy, import price inflation was 5.1 percent versus 0.3 percent in July.

Inflation based on intermediate goods accelerated to 11.0 percent from 0.6 percent, while costs for consumer goods were 0.5 percent less expensive compared to last year.

Data also showed that export price inflation rose to 4.7 percent, the largest since February 2023, from 4.2 percent in July.