German producer prices fall more than expected in January

German producer prices fell more than expected in January, according to figures released by Destatis.

Producer prices were down 0.7% on the month compared with a 0.5% drop in December and economists’ expectations for a 0.3% decline.

On the year, prices were 2.4% weaker compared with a 2.3% drop the previous month. This was steeper than the 2% fall forecast by economists.

Energy prices were down 7.3% from January 2015, with prices of intermediate goods down 2.2%.

On the other hand, prices of non-durable goods rose by 0.6%, while prices of capital goods and durable consumer goods were up 0.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

Excluding energy, producer prices slipped 0.6% compared with January 2015.