German CPI falls more than expected in February

German consumer prices were unchanged in February, dragged down by a large fall in energy prices.

The country´s consumer price index was flat versus a year ago, as a 8.5% drop in energy inflation swamped a 0.8% rise in food prices and 0.9% gain in those for services, according to the Federal Statistics Office.

Economists had projected a rise of 0.1% year-on-year following an advance of 0.5% in the month before.

In harmonised terms, CPI decreased by four tenths of a percentage point to a 0.2% year-on-year clip, but rose by 0.4% month-on-month.