German Import Prices Fall For Second Month

(RTTNews) - Germany's import prices declined for the second straight month in May due to the notable fall in energy prices, figures from Destatis revealed on Monday.

Import prices slid 1.1 percent in May from the previous year. This was the second consecutive fall and followed April's 0.4 percent drop.

The decline in energy prices had the greatest impact on overall import prices. Energy prices plunged 14.6 percent. Excluding energy, import prices were 0.4 percent higher than in the previous year. On a monthly basis, the fall in import prices slowed to 0.7 percent from 1.7 percent. Prices have been falling since March. Economists had forecast a monthly drop of 0.3 percent.

Data showed that energy prices grew 1.0 percent in May from the previous year, the same pace of increase as seen in April. Compared to April, export prices remained flat in May.