Press release No.013 / 2010-01-14

Consumer prices in 2009: +0.4% on the previous year

Inflation rate rising towards the end of the year

WIESBADEN – As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the consumer price index for Germany rose by 0.4% on an annual average in 2009 compared with 2008. That was the lowest year-on-year rate of price increase since German unification. A similarly low rate of inflation was observed in 1999 (+0.6%). In 2007 and 2008, the year-on-year inflation rate was above the threshold of two percent which is important for monetary policy (2007: +2.3%; 2008: +2.6%). The average year-on-year rate of price increase since 1999 has been 1.5%.

The low year-on-year rate of price increase in 2009 was characterised mainly by price decreases for mineral oil products and food. Mineral oil product prices in 2009 were down 15.8% on the previous year. The price decrease was largest for liquid fuel (−30.7%), and motor fuel prices in 2009 declined considerably by 11.0% on 2008 (including Diesel fuel: −18.4%; supergrade petrol: −8.5%). The decrease in food prices (−1.3%) was clearly noticeable for consumers especially for dairy products (−8.7%; including curd: −22.2%; cream: −18.0%; fresh full-cream milk: −17.3%).

Lower prices than in the previous year were recorded in 2009 also for communication (−2.2%). The price decrease in education (−4.1%) is mainly due to Land-specific price trends, which included the increasing offer of free nursery school years in some Länder.

Altogether in 2009, price rises compared with 2008 were also observed in many product areas. A slight price increase occurred, among other things, in the housing sphere (+0.4% on 2008), where net rents exclusive of heating expenses were up by 1.1% on a year earlier, electricity prices by even 6.2%. A marked price increase from 2008 was recorded in 2009 for alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+2.7%; including tobacco: +3.4%).

Changes in December 2009 on December 2008
In December 2009, the upward price trend (+0.9% on December 2008) accelerated; already in November 2009 the inflation rate had been positive (+0.4%). However, negative inflation rates on the relevant month of the previous year had also been recorded in the second half of 2009 (July 2009: −0.5%; September: −0.3%).

The inflation rate in December 2009 was characterised mainly by the price trend for energy products. Energy prices in December 2009 rose a total 1.0% on December 2008, which was caused by the marked rises in mineral oil product prices (+11.1%): Motor fuel prices were higher than a year earlier for the second month in a row (+12.9%, including supergrade petrol: +16.2%; Diesel fuel: +2.7%), liquid fuel prices for the first time since October 2008 (December 2009: +4.4%). In a year-on-year comparison, a further rise in electricity prices (+5.8%) was determined in December 2009. However, gas (−19.6%) and charges for central and remote heating (−10.5%) were down on a year earlier. Hence especially mineral oil products had an upward effect on prices in December 2009: Not considering mineral oil products, the inflation rate in December 2009 would have been markedly lower at +0.5%.

Year-on-year price increases worth mentioning were recorded in December 2009 also for tobacco (+5.5%) as well as for clothing and footwear (+2.4%). Package holidays, however, showed a consumer-friendly year-on-year price trend. Following price increases in the summer season, the prices were down in the winter season (December 2009: −1.1% on December 2008).

Food prices in December 2009 fell 2.0% on December 2008. Marked price decreases were observed especially for vegetables (−13.3%; including lettuce and iceberg salad: −41.6%; tomatoes: −25.2%; potatoes: −18.5%). Price decreases were also observed for dairy products (−3.8%; including sliced cheese: −7.1%; fresh full-cream milk: −5.7%). However, prices were up for oils and fats (+4.0%), in particular butter prices were considerably higher than a year earlier (+16.4%). For fish, too, above-average price rises on the previous year (+3.5%) were recorded.

Changes in December 2009 on November 2009
In December 2009, the overall index was up 0.8% on November 2009. As is common in December, prices were up also in 2009 for accommodation services (+22.5%), package holidays (+19.3%) and air travels (+4.3%). A major reason was the seasonal highlights of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Seasonal price increases were also observed for fruit (+4.8%). Rail fares increased towards the end of the year because of the annual price changes (+1.9%). However, lower prices were recorded for energy products (−0.9%; of which household energy: −0.7%; motor fuels: −0.9%).

The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) for Germany, which is calculated for European purposes, rose 0.2% in 2009 in an annual comparison with 2008. That is the lowest annual rate of price change ever determined for the HICP for Germany (calculated since 1996). In December 2009, the HICP was up 0.8% on December 2008. Compared with the previous month, the index climbed 0.9%.

The estimate of 29 December 2009 for the HICPand the consumer price index (CPI) was thus largely confirmed, only for the CPI the December result was slightly corrected upwards.

Further information on consumer price statistics is provided by Fachserie 17, Reihe 7, which is available free of charge via the publications of the Federal Statistical Office. Detailed information and long time series on consumer price statistics can also be retrieved free of charge from the database Genesis Online.

>>> Brief methodological description

Consumer price index for Germany
Overall index / product groups ________ Overall index / subindex	Weighting	2009 Annual average	December 2009
	Weighting	Change on 2008 Annual average	Change on the same period a year earlier	Change on the preceding month
	in per million	in per cent
Overall index 2009	1,000.00	0.4	0.9	0.8
Food and non-alcoholic-beverages	103.55	–1.2	–2.0	0.5
Food	89.99	–1.3	–2.0	0.8
Milk, cheese and eggs	14.44	–7.3	–2.9	0.5
Oils and fats	2.55	–5.0	4.0	0.7
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	38.99	2.7	3.6	0.0
tobacco	22.43	3.4	5.5	0.0
Clothing and footwear	48.88	1.4	2.4	1.3
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels	308.00	0.4	–0.2	–0.2
Net rent exclusive of heating expenses	203.30	1.1	1.1	0.1
Household energy	59.82	–2.4	–4.4	–0.7
Electricity	24.61	6.2	5.8	0.1
Gas	12.85	–1.5	–19.6	–1.0
Liquid fuel	9.21	–30.7	4.4	–2.3
Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house	55.87	1.7	1.3	0.4
Health	40.27	1.0	0.8	0.0
Transport	131.90	–2.0	4.1	–0.2
Motor fuels	35.37	–11.0	12.9	–0.9
Supergrade petrol	19.29	–8.5	16.2	–1.0
Diesel oil	8.15	–18.4	2.7	–0.8
Communication	31.00	–2.2	–1.8	–0.1
Recreation and culture	115.68	1.6	0.6	4.5
Education	7.40	–4.1	–1.1	0.1
Restaurants and hotels	43.99	2.3	1.9	5.9
Miscellaneous goods and services	74.47	1.5	2.1	0.2
Overall index
Excluding liquid fuel and motor fuels	955.42	1.1	0.5	0.9
Excluding household energy	940.18	0.6	1.2	0.9
Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels)	904.81	1.0	0.8	1.0
Goods, total	493.00	–0.7	0.7	0.2
Non-durable consumer goods	305.11	–1.4	0.6	0.0
Consumer goods with a medium-term life	95.24	1.4	1.8	1.0
Durable consumer goods	92.65	–0.1	–0.2	0.0
Services	507.00	1.3	1.0	1.5

Consumer price index for Germany
Overall index ________ Year / Month		Index 2005 = 100	Change on the same period a year earlier	Change on the preceding month
Overall index ________ Year / Month		Index 2005 = 100	in per cent
2007 Annual average		103.9	2.3	–
2008 Annual average		106.6	2.6	–
2009 Annual average		107.0	0.4	–
2008	December	106.8	1.1	0.3
2009	January	106.3	0.9	–0.5
	February	106.9	1.0	0.6
	March	106.8	0.5	–0.1
	April	106.8	0.7	0.0
	May	106.7	0.0	–0.1
	June	107.1	0.1	0.4
	July	107.1	–0.5	0.0
	August	107.3	0.0	0.2
	September	106.9	–0.3	–0.4
	October	107.0	0.0	0.1
	November	106.9	0.4	–0.1
	December	107.8	0.9	0.8

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