Germany Producer Price Inflation At 13-Month Low On Easing Energy Prices

(RTTNews) - Germany's producer price inflation eased for the third straight month in December to reach its lowest level in just over a year amid a moderation in energy prices, data from Destatis showed on Friday.

The producer price index, or PPI, climbed 21.6 percent year-over-year in December, which was slower than the 28.2 percent surge in October. Economists had forecast the price growth to ease to 20.8 percent.

Further, the latest inflation rate was the weakest since October 2021, when prices had risen 19.2 percent.

The overall strong inflation in December was still largely caused by a 41.9 percent jump in energy prices amid higher costs for natural gas and electricity. However, the rate of growth slowed considerably from 65.8 percent in November.

Excluding energy, producer prices rose 12.0 percent yearly in December, while they showed no variations from a month ago.

Read more: German Economic Sentiment Strengthens On Favourable Energy Markets

Among other components of the producer price index, prices of intermediate goods increased sharply by 12.3 percent, led by upward price developments of metals.

Prices of non-durable consumer goods surged 18.1 percent annually, impacted by higher food prices, and those for capital goods grew 7.7 percent.

Prices for durable consumer goods alone registered a double-digit annual growth of 11.9 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices decreased 0.4 percent in December, following a 3.9 percent fall in November. Prices fell for the third straight month.

Read more: German Economy Grows 1.90% In 2022 To Beat Expectations

During the year 2022, the annual average rise in producer prices was 32.9 percent compared to a 10.5 percent increase in 2021. Further, this was the highest price growth since the start of the survey in 1949. The surge in inflation rate was primarily driven by an 86.2 percent jump in energy prices.