German producer prices surge
German producer prices surged at a record rate last month, official data showed on Wednesday, as the war in Ukraine started to weigh heavily.
According to Destatis, Germany’s Federal Statistics Office, producer prices rose 30.9% in March year-on-year, the highest increase since records began in 1949, or by 4.9% on February 2022.
Most analysts had been expecting an annual increase closer to 28.2%, according to a Reuters poll.
Destatis said Wednesday’s data reflected the "first implications deriving from Russia’s attack on Ukraine".
The invasion at the end of February saw already sky-high energy prices rocket and increased the price of various other commodities, including wheat and fertiliser. Destatis said prices of fertilisers and nitrogen compounds surged 87.2% year-on-year in March. Russia is one of the world’s largest exporters of fertiliser.
Energy prices are now up 83.8% compared to March 2021, or by 10.4% on February 2022. Within that, natural gas has risen 144.8% year-on-year, electricity prices by 85.1% and mineral oil products 61.3%.
Once energy was stripped out, producer prices rose 14.0% on March 2021 and 2.3% on the previous month, Destatis noted.