Consumer prices in Germany were 1.6% higher in March 2017

Consumer prices in Germany were 1.6% higher in March 2017 than in March 2016. The inflation rate - measured by the consumer price index - thus decreased. In February 2017, it had been +2.2%. Compared with the previous month, the consumer price index rose by 0.2% in March 2017. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) thus confirms its provisional overall results of 30 March 2017.

The inflation rate in March 2017 was characterised mainly by the development of energy prices, as had been the case in the previous months. The year-on-year price increase (+5.1%), however, was markedly smaller than in February 2017 (+7.2%). This applies in particular to heating oil (+25.2%; February 2017: +43.8%) and motor fuels (+11.9%; February 2017: +15.6%). One of the reasons for the lower rates in March 2017 is that mineral oil product prices were up a year ago (basis-related effect). For the other energy products, the year-on-year rates of price increase in March 2017 were lower (for example, electricity: +1.5%; gas: -3.3%). Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate in March 2017 would have been +1.2%; excluding the prices of mineral oil products, it would have been +1.0%.

Food prices, too, were higher (+2.3%) in March 2017 than in March 2016. In February 2017, the rate of food price increase had been +4.4%. In March 2017, a considerable year-on-year increase in prices was recorded especially for edible fats and oils (+16.5%, including butter: +33.8%). Consumers paid markedly more than a year earlier also for fish and fish products (+4.2%), vegetables (+4.0%) and dairy products (+3.1%). The price increases regarding other food groups were rather moderate (for example, meat and meat products: +1.4%; confectionery: +1.1%).