Germany's consumer prices rose less than expected in February

Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said, consumer prices in Germany were up 1.5% in February 2019 from February 2018. Economists had expected a 1.6% increase. The inflation rate - measured by the consumer price index - was thus slightly higher year on year than in January 2019 (+1.4%).

Energy prices were 2.9% higher in February 2019 than a year earlier and had a slight upward effect on the overall inflation rate. A closer look at the individual energy products reveals that the prices of electricity, gas and other fuels were up 4.3% in February 2019 from February 2018. The highest price increase was recorded for heating oil (+14.2%). Motor fuel prices rose by only 0.1% over the same period. Excluding energy prices, the rate of inflation would have been +1.4% in February 2019.

Compared with January 2019, the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in February 2019. Economists had expected a 0.5% increase. Package holiday prices were markedly up in February 2019 on the previous month (+10.7%). Higher prices than in January 2019 were recorded also for clothing (+3.6%), plants and flowers (+2.4%). The prices of food (total) increased by 0.5% in February 2019 month on month. This was mainly due to the considerable rise in vegetable prices (+3.6%). The prices of energy (total) increased only slightly from the previous month (+0.2%) in February 2019. A month-on-month increase in prices was recorded especially for heating oil (+1.1%). The price of motor fuel, in contrast, was somewhat lower (-0.2%). However, the prices of the individual motor fuels showed diverging trends (for instance, supergrade petrol: -0.7%, but diesel fuel: +1.0%).