Press release No. 004 of 4 January 2023
Import prices, November 2022
+14.5% on the same month a year earlier
-4.5% on the previous month
Export prices, November 2022
+11.6% on the same month a year earlier
-0.5% on the previous month
WIESBADEN – Import prices were 14.5% higher in November 2022 than in November 2021. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that the rate of increase has slowed down. The year-on-year rate of change was +23.5% in October 2022 and +29.8% in September 2022. Compared with October 2022, import prices were down by 4.5% in November 2022. This was the third decrease in a row and an unprecedented fall in month-on-month prices.
Year-on-year price increase mainly due to high energy prices, though month-on-month energy prices fell markedly
The increase in year-on-year import prices continued to be mainly due to the rise in energy import prices. In November 2022, energy imports were 37.9% more expensive than in November 2021, but showed significant price decreases for almost all types of energy compared with October 2022 (-16.1%). The year-on-year increase was still mainly due to the price increases for imported natural gas (+42.7%). Mineral oil products, with a plus of 41.0%, and crude oil, up 28.8%, were also more expensive than in November 2021. The prices of the other energy products increased compared with November 2021, but decreased compared with October 2022. In contrast, electricity prices decreased by 2.8% compared with November 2021 and rose by 11.9% from the previous month.
The index of import prices, excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, increased by 13.1% in November 2022 compared with November 2021 and fell by 4.3% in comparison with October 2022.
Increases in the prices of intermediate and capital goods pushing up export prices
The index of export prices was 11.6% higher in November 2022 than in November 2021. In October 2022 and September 2022, the year-on-year rate of change had been +13.1% and +16.8%, respectively. Compared with October 2022, average export prices were down by 0.5% in November 2022.
The price increase in November 2022 in comparison with November 2021 was mainly due to the development of intermediate goods. Exports of intermediate goods were 13.4% more expensive than in November 2021 (-0.7% compared with October 2022).
Capital goods prices increased by 7.5% compared with November 2021 (+0.1% on October 2022). The price development of capital goods was mainly influenced by machinery prices, which were up by 9.1% on November 2021, followed by motor vehicle prices (+6.9%).
Energy exports were 38.6% more expensive than in November 2021 (-4.3% compared with October 2022). The year-on-year increase in energy export prices was mainly due to the increase in natural gas prices, with a plus of 65.1% (-2.8% on October 2022), and in mineral oil product prices, with a plus of 38.0% (-10.9% on October 2022).
Import price indices are also available in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators of official statistics and from other data providers on the topics of economy and finance as well as health and mobility. A tool also available there is the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in german). It can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.
More detailed data and long time series are available in the tables Index of import prices (61411-0002 and 61411-0006) and Index of export prices (61421-0002 and 61421-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database.
