German inflation hits highest level since 1993
German consumer prices hit their highest level in almost three decades during 2021, the statistics office Destatis said on Wednesday.
Prices rose 3.1% on average over the year compared with 2020 when the inflation rate was 0.5%.
"In addition to the temporary base effects of the past, there are more and more crisis-related effects such as delivery bottlenecks and marked price increases at upstream stages in the economic process," said Destatis president Georg Thiel.
Energy product prices surged 10.4% year on year in 2021 after a 4.8% fall in 2020 when the economy was hit by the Covid pandemic. Food prices rose 3.2% after surging in the second half of the year.
The prices of goods were up 4.3% with non-durable consumer goods recording a 5.4% increase. The prices of durable consumer goods rose 2.4%, including price increases in vehicles, as well as furniture and lighting equipment. The prices of services were up 2.1% in 2021 compared with the previous year.