German consumer price index rose in line with forecasts in June

According to the report from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the inflation rate in Germany, measured as the year-on-year change in the consumer price index, stood at +2.3% in June 2021. Following a continuous rise observed since the beginning of the year, the inflation rate has slightly slowed (May 2021: +2.5%). Destatis also reports that consumer prices were up 0.4% on May 2021.  

The prices of goods (total) increased by 3.1% between June 2020 and June 2021, which was above average. Energy product prices (+9.4%) continued to be considerably higher than the overall inflation rate, after +10.0% in May 2021.

The prices of food were up a below-average 1.2% in June 2021 compared with the same month a year earlier, following 1.5% in May 2021. 

The year-on-year increases in energy product prices had a clear upward effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate would have been +1.6% in June 2021; excluding the prices of heating oil and motor fuels, it would have been only +1.5%.

The prices of services (total) increased by 1.6% in June 2021 compared with the same month a year earlier. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household final consumption expenditure, rose by 1.4%.

Compared with May 2021, the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in June 2021. Energy product prices were up 0.8%, especially the prices of heating oil (+3.3%) and motor fuels (+1.7%). In contrast, the prices of food went down slightly (-0.4%). Consumers had to pay less, in particular, for fresh vegetables (-5.4%) than in the previous month.