The producer prices are usually transferred to the prices for end consumers with a delay.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Due to cheaper energy, German producer prices rose more slowly in May than they have in over two years. The manufacturers of commercial products demanded an average of only 1.0 percent more than a year earlier, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday. This is the lowest value since January 2021 at 0.9 percent.
Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had expected 1.7 percent after the increase in April was 4.1 percent. This means that the inflation rate has been falling continuously since its peak in August and September 2022 at 45.8 percent each. Producer prices even fell from April to May, by 1.4 percent.
Producer prices are seen as a precursor to the development of the cost of living. If manufacturers raise or lower their prices, this usually has a delayed effect on private households, at least in part. At 6.1 percent, the inflation rate is currently at its lowest level for more than a year. Economists expect a further decline in the second half of the year.
The price increase was dampened by energy, which this time cost 3.3 percent less than in the same month last year. Shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the prices had risen massively, but prices have fallen by more than a third since last September.
Producer prices for capital goods, which include vehicles and machinery, rose at an above-average rate in May: They rose by 6.5 percent compared to May 2022. 8.2 percent more was asked for machinery, and 5.6 percent more for motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts percent more.
Sugar almost twice as expensive, butter and oil significantly cheaper
Food even cost 11.9 percent more. There was a surcharge of 92.0 percent for sugar, and processed potatoes (+41.0 percent) and pork (+22.4 percent) were also noticeably more expensive.
22.1 percent more had to be paid for fruit and vegetable products, and 19.6 percent more for liquid milk and cream. Butter, on the other hand, cost 28.9 percent less, and the prices for untreated vegetable oils even fell by 43.7 percent.
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