German consumer price growth slowed to 1.2% in September

According to the report from Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), сonsumer prices in Germany in September 2019 were 1.2% higher than in September 2018. Destatis also reports that the inflation rate - as measured by the consumer price index - decreased again (August 2019: +1.4%).

Energy product prices were down 1.1% from September 2018 to September 2019 and had a downward effect on the overall price development. In August 2019, the rate of energy price increase had been +0.6%. The prices of food were up 1.3% in September 2019 compared with the same month a year earlier. The increase in food prices thus slowed (August 2019: +2.7%). The prices of goods (total) were 0.6% higher in September 2019 than in the same month a year earlier. Service prices rose much more strongly (+1.8%) than goods prices from September 2018 to September 2019. A major factor contributing to the development of service prices was the increase in net rents exclusive of heating expenses (+1.4%), as households spend a large part of their consumption expenditure on this item.

Compared with August 2019, the consumer price index remained unchanged in September 2019. Nevertheless, considerable month-on-month price increases were recorded for clothing (+7.2%) and footwear (+2.7%). A major reason here was the changeover to the autumn/winter collection. Due to the end of the summer holidays, there were seasonal price decreases for package holidays (-10.3%) and air tickets (-2.2%).