Federal Statistical Office: Inflation charge falls to lowest degree since 2021 – meals costs rise quickly in some instances | EUROtoday

For the primary time in over three years, the German inflation charge remained under the two % mark in August. Consumer costs rose at a charge of 1.9 % in comparison with the identical month final 12 months, the slowest charge since March 2021, the Federal Statistical Office confirmed its preliminary estimate.

“There are increasing signs that inflation in Germany has finally been defeated,” stated Sebastian Dullien, director of the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK), commenting on the event.

Prices for vitality merchandise fell by 5.1 % in comparison with August 2023 (July: -1.7 %):

• Fuels comparable to petrol: -6.9 %
• gentle heating oil: -9.3 %
• Electricity: -6.8 %
• Natural gasoline: -3.1 %
• District heating: +31.1 %

Food costs rose for the fifth month in a row (+1.5 %, July: +1.3 %):

• Olive oil: +35.0 %.
• Sugar, jam, honey and different confectionery: +5.0 %
• Fruit: +2.5 %
• Vegetables: +0.9 %
• Dairy merchandise: -0.4 %

Price strain on shoppers is easing after a number of years of very excessive inflation charges. In July, statisticians recorded an increase in shopper costs of two.3 %, up from 2.2 % in June. The final time a decrease inflation charge was recorded was in March 2021 than in August, when costs had been additionally 0.1 % decrease than in July. Core inflation excluding vitality and meals fell by 0.1 factors to 2.8 %.

If inflation falls in Germany and the eurozone as an entire over the course of the 12 months, this may give the European Central Bank scope to chop key rates of interest. In June, it minimize key rates of interest by 0.25 share factors for the primary time for the reason that wave of inflation. In July, the ECB saved key rates of interest secure and left the door open for a charge minimize on the Council assembly on September 12. The monetary markets expect the ECB to chop rates of interest in September. In the eurozone, the inflation charge for August was estimated at 2.2 %.