Press release No. 167 of 15 May 2020
Producer prices of industrial products, April 2020
-0.7% on the previous month
-1.9% on the same month a year earlier
WIESBADEN – In April 2020 the index of producer prices for industrial products decreased by 1.9% compared with the corresponding month of the preceding year. In March the annual rate of change all over had been –0.8%, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with the preceding month March the overall index fell by 0.7% in April 2020 (-0.8% in March).
Energy prices as a whole decreased by 7.3% (-1.8% compared to March 2020). On an annual basis, prices of petroleum products were down 23.3%. They fell by 10.1% compared to March 2020. A great part of this decrease presumably is due to the fallen decline in demand during the Corona pandemic. Prices of natural gas (distribution) decreased by 13.0% whereas prices of electricity fell by 2.0%.
The overall index disregarding energy was 0.1% down on April 2019 and fell by 0.3% compared to March 2020.
Prices of intermediate goods decreased by 2.7% compared to April 2019 (-0.5% on March 2020). Prices decreased especially regarding basic iron, steel and ferro-alloys (-9.6%) as well as paper and paperboard (-7.3%) and basic chemicals (-5.1%). Prices of cereal flour were down 3.5%. By contrast, prices of precious metals increased by 23.2% compared to April 2019. Prices of disinfectants were up 10.9, prices of fresh concrete rose by 5.4%.
Prices of non-durable consumer goods increased by 2.8% compared to April 2019 (-0.2% on March 2020). Food prices were up 3.8% on April 2019. The price of sugar increased by 17.0%, pork prices by 9.2%. Prices of processed and preserved fruit and vegetables rose by 4.9%. By contrast, prices of butter fell by 16.1% compared to April 2019 and prices for processed and preserved potatoes were 8.7% down on April 2019. The price of coffee decreased by 3.0%.
| Year / month | 2015 = 100 | Change in % compared with | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| corresponding month of preceding year | preceding month | |||
| 2019 | April | 105.4 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| May | 105.3 | 1.9 | -0.1 | |
| June | 104.9 | 1.2 | -0.4 | |
| July | 105.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 | |
| August | 104.5 | 0.3 | -0.5 | |
| September | 104.6 | -0.1 | 0.1 | |
| October | 104.4 | -0.6 | -0.2 | |
| November | 104.4 | -0.7 | 0.0 | |
| December | 104.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | |
2020 | January | 105.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| February | 104.9 | -0.1 | -0.4 | |
| March | 104.1 | -0.8 | -0.8 | |
| April | 103.4 | -1.9 | -0.7 | |
| thereof: | ||||
| Intermediate goods | 103.0 | -2.7 | -0.5 | |
| Capital goods | 105.7 | 1.2 | 0.1 | |
| Durable consumer goods | 106.9 | 1.5 | 0.2 | |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 108.8 | 2.8 | -0.2 | |
| Energy | 97.9 | -7.3 | -1.8 | |
More detailed data and long time series are available in table Producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database.
