Energy prices drag German CPI lower in December, as expected
German consumer prices continued slowing last year as the drop in energy prices intensified, government statistics revealed, in line with market expectations.
Inflation at the retail level was on average 0.3% higher in 2015 in comparison to the year before, according to the Federal Office of Statistics, its slowest pace since 2009.
The country’s consumer price index slipped 0.1% in December versus the prior month but gained three tenths of a percentage point in comparison to a year ago, the figures showed.
Energy prices retreated at a 2.9% month-on-month clip in December and by 6.5% year-on-year.
The prices of goods slipped by 0.6% year-on-year while those for services advanced by 1.2%.
Excluding energy, CPI rose 0.3% over the month and 1.1% versus a year ago.
In harmonised terms, CPI was higher by 0.2% month-on-month but flat in comparison to a year ago, as per a preliminary estimate and in-line analysts’ forecasts.
Harmonised CPI was at 0.1% year-on-year in November 2015 and at 0.0% one year ago, in December of 2014.