Press release No. 399 of 11 October 2019
Consumer price index, September 2019
+1.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
0.0% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, September 2019
+0.9% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
-0.1% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
WIESBADEN – Consumer prices in Germany in September 2019 were 1.2% higher than in September 2018. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that the inflation rate - as measured by the consumer price index - decreased again (August 2019: +1.4%). Compared with August 2019, consumer prices remained unchanged in September 2019.
Energy product prices were down 1.1% from September 2018 to September 2019 and had a downward effect on the overall price development. In August 2019, the rate of energy price increase had been +0.6%. In September 2019, year-on-year price increases were recorded especially for district heating and natural gas (+4.7% each) and electricity (+3.9%). In contrast, prices were markedly down for both heating oil (-10.5%) and motor fuels (-6.7%). Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate in September 2019 would have been +1.4%; excluding the prices of mineral oil products, it would have been as much as +1.6%.
The prices of food were up 1.3% in September 2019 compared with the same month a year earlier. The increase in food prices thus slowed (August 2019: +2.7%). Prices were markedly higher year on year especially for meat and meat products (+4.6%) as well as fish, fish products and seafood (+3.2%). Price decreases were observed, too; prices fell considerably for edible fats and oils (-13.4%).
The prices of goods (total) were 0.6% higher in September 2019 than in the same month a year earlier. Apart from the rather moderate increase of food prices (+1.3%), prices were markedly up, among other things, for newspapers and periodicals (+5.1%), tobacco products (+4.3%) and new passenger cars (+2.4%). Prices fell not only for mineral oil products (-7.4%) but also for consumer electronics (-8.9%) and telephones (-5.8%).
Service prices rose much more strongly (+1.8%) than goods prices from September 2018 to September 2019. A major factor contributing to the development of service prices was the increase in net rents exclusive of heating expenses (+1.4%), as households spend a large part of their consumption expenditure on this item. Larger price increases were observed, for example, for the maintenance and repair of vehicles (+5.0%), services of social facilities (+4.9%), air tickets (+4.3%), hairdresser services and other services for personal care (+3.2%) and for catering services (+2.8%). The prices of some services were down, among them pre-primary and primary education services (-4.3%).
Change in September 2019 on August 2019
Compared with August 2019, the consumer price index remained unchanged in September 2019. Nevertheless, considerable month-on-month price increases were recorded for clothing (+7.2%) and footwear (+2.7%). A major reason here was the changeover to the autumn/winter collection. Due to the end of the summer holidays, there were seasonal price decreases for package holidays (-10.3%) and air tickets (-2.2%).
| Overall index / subindex | Weighting | Index 2015 = 100 | Change on the same period a year earlier | Change on the preceding month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in per mill | in per cent | |||
| 1 Results do not include charges. | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 106.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 107.5 | 1.1 | -0.2 |
| Food | 84.87 | 108.1 | 1.3 | -0.2 |
| Meat | 18.60 | 109.1 | 4.6 | 0.3 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 108.7 | -0.9 | 1.8 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 108.8 | 1.2 | -2.5 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 111.5 | 2.6 | 0.4 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 105.3 | 0.9 | 5.8 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 105.2 | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 105.8 | 1.4 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 102.7 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 107.3 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
| Gas1 | 13.53 | 96.1 | 4.7 | 0.1 |
| Heating oil1 | 7.01 | 115.5 | -10.5 | 3.6 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 102.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Health | 46.13 | 104.6 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 106.5 | -0.2 | -0.5 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 103.8 | -6.7 | -0.8 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 102.5 | -6.9 | -1.5 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 108.0 | -6.2 | 1.2 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 95.8 | -0.5 | 0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 107.4 | 0.7 | -2.8 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | 118.9 | 1.5 | -10.3 |
| Education | 9.02 | 102.3 | -0.2 | 0.6 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 110.2 | 2.7 | 0.0 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 106.4 | 2.4 | 0.2 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 106.2 | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 106.3 | 1.4 | -0.1 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 106.0 | 1.6 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 105.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 106.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 103.1 | -1.1 | 0.1 |
| Services | 531.84 | 106.9 | 1.8 | -0.6 |
Harmonised index of consumer prices for Germany
Harmonised index of consumer prices for Germany
The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) for Germany, which is calculated for European purposes, was 0.9% higher in September 2019 than in September 2018. Compared with August 2019, the HICP fell by 0.1% in September 2019.
More information on consumer price statistics is provided by Fachserie 17, Reihe 7.
Detailed data and long time series of consumer price statistics can also be found in the Genesis Online database in tables 61111-0004 and 61111-0006 (consumer price index) as well as in tables 61121-0002 and 61121-0004 (harmonised consumer price index).
