March 14, 2023

Consumer price index in Germany, February 2023
+8.7% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.8% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)

Harmonised index of consumer prices, February 2023
+9.3% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+1.0% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)

The inflation rate in Germany, measured as the year-on-year change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at +8.7% in February 2023. In January 2023, the inflation rate had been +8.7% as well. “The inflation rate remains at a high level”, says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. She adds: “Households felt the impact of higher food prices also in February, as they increased even more than energy prices.” The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in February 2023 were up 0.8% on January 2023

High price increase continues due to special effects caused by the situation of war and crisis

Energy and food prices, in particular, have increased considerably since the war started in Ukraine and still have a substantial impact on the inflation rate. Due to the situation of war and crisis, delivery bottlenecks and rising prices at upstream stages in the economic process also have an impact on the inflation rate, which in turn leads to price increases for other goods and services.

Prices of energy products up 19.1% year on year

Energy product prices in February 2023 were 19.1% higher year on year despite the relief measures of the federal government. The increase in energy product prices was 23.1% in January 2023, it thus slowed down somewhat. Since January 2023, the increase in energy prices has been slowed to some extent by the electricity, natural gas and district heating price freezes taking effect retrospectively as of January 2023. The development of energy prices is however influenced by many factors, especially international purchase prices. A particularly large increase was again recorded for household energy prices from February 2022 to February 2023 (+32.2%). There were price rises of 46.6% for natural gas, 23.1% for electricity and 16.1% for district heating. Above-average prices increases of other household energy products also continued, with prices of firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels up 41.7%, for example, and heating oil prices up 11.8%. The rate of price increase for motor fuels (+3.2%), in contrast, was below overall inflation.

21.8% increase in food prices year on year

Food prices were up 21.8% in February 2023 year on year. Food prices thus rose more rapidly than before (January 2023: +20.2%).  Compared with the same month of the previous year, food prices increased even more in February 2023 than energy product prices as a whole. Higher prices were seen in all food groups also in February 2023. Considerably higher prices were recorded for dairy products and eggs (+35.3%) and bread and cereals(+24.3%). Substantial year-on-year price increases were seen also for edible fats and oils and for fish, fish products and seafood (+22.8% each). Very high price increases were observed for some foodstuffs. Consumers had to pay 69.9% more for sugar than in February 2022, for instance.

Inflation rate excluding energy and food at +5.7%

Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +7.6% in February 2023. The extent to which food prices currently affect the overall rate of price increase is shown by the inflation rate when energy and food are excluded. It was markedly lower at +5.7%. The inflation rate excluding energy and food nevertheless shows that inflation is high also for other product groups. This rate had been above the five-percent threshold already in December 2022 (+5.2%) and also exceeded the January 2023 figure of +5.6%.

Prices of goods up 12.4% on February 2022

The prices of goods (total) were up 12.4% in February 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. The price increase for non-durable consumer goods was particularly large (+16.5%). Considerable price rises were recorded not only for energy and food but also for non-durable consumer goods for personal care (+15.1%), non-alcoholic beverages (+12.8%) and beer (+9.6%). Prices of durable consumer goods were up 6.1% on the same month of the previous year. Here notable price increases were observed for furniture and lighting equipment (+10.3%) as well as for second-hand passenger cars (+10.1%).

Service prices up 4.7% year on year

The prices of services (total) were up 4.7% in February 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses rose 2.0%. Above-average price increases were observed for some services such as maintenance and repair of dwellings (+16.7%), catering services in restaurants, cafes and the like (+10.9%) and services of social facilities (+9.5%). Prices were down year on year only for a very small number of services, for instance, telecommunications services (-1.1%).

Overall food prices up 2.4% on the previous month

Compared with January 2023, the consumer price index rose by 0.8% in February 2023. Households again paid more for food (+2.4%). There were marked price increases especially for vegetables (+12.5%) and fruit (+2.7%). The prices of other food groups were up as well, for example bread and cereals (+2.2%). Worth mentioning was the price drop for edible fats and oils (-7.2%), especially butter cost substantially less than in the previous month (-14.2%). Energy prices (total) remained unchanged. Some energy products saw price increases nevertheless; the prices of natural gas (+0.6%) and electricity (+0.5%) went up despite the price freezes. Along with these price increases there were substantial price decreases for heating oil (-8.5%) and district heating (-6.7%). Motor fuel prices (total) remained nearly unchanged (+0.1%, including supergrade petrol: +1.4%, and, in contrast, diesel fuel: -3.6%).

Source: DESTATIS
Legal Notice: The information in this article is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended for professional information purposes specific to a person or an institution. Every institution has different requirements because of its own circumstances even though they bear a resemblance to each other. Consequently, it is your interest to consult on an expert before taking a decision based on information stated in this article and putting into practice. Neither Karen Audit nor related person or institutions are not responsible for any damages or losses that might occur in consequence of the use of the information in this article by private or formal, real or legal person and institutions.