Press release No. 188 of 14 May 2024
Consumer price index, April 2024
+2.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.5% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, April 2024
+2.4% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.6% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
WIESBADEN − The inflation rate in Germany, measured as the year-on-year change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at +2.2% in April 2024. It also stood at +2.2% in March 2024, while in February 2024 the rate of change was +2.5%. “The rate of inflation has been below three per cent since the start of the year. Energy and food prices, in particular, have had a dampening effect on the inflation rate since January 2024”, says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. “However, core inflation – measured as the change in the consumer price index excluding food and energy – has been higher than overall inflation since the beginning of the year”, Brand went on to say. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in April 2024 rose by 0.5% on March 2024.
Energy product prices fell by 1.2% compared with April 2023
Energy prices in April 2024 were lower than in the same month a year earlier despite the discontinuation of the brake on energy prices from January 2024 onwards and the introduction of a higher carbon price, also from January 2024, which affects the price of fossil fuels such as motor fuels, heating oil and natural gas. April 2024 also marked the end of the temporary reduction in the VAT on gas and district heating from 19% to 7%. Overall, energy prices continued to decrease year on year in April 2024 (-1.2%) but the decline was less pronounced (March 2024: -2.7%).
From April 2023 to April 2024, prices of household energy fell by 3.2%. In particular, consumers continued to benefit from lower prices for firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels (-7.9%) and electricity (-7.8%), but also from lower natural gas prices (-5.4%). By contrast, the prices of some energy products were higher than a year earlier, particularly district heating (+27.4%). There was also an increase in the price of mineral oil products (+2.3%, of which heating oil: +6.2%; motor fuels: +2.0%).
0.5% increase in food prices compared with April 2023
Food prices (only in German) were up 0.5% in April 2024 compared with the same month a year earlier. The fall in prices observed in March 2024 (-0.7%) therefore did not continue. In particular, the prices of sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+8.3%) and edible fats and oils (+7.4%, including olive oil (only in German): +52.9%) increased in the period from April 2023 to April 2024. Consumers also had to pay more than a year earlier for fruit (+4.4%), meat and meat products (+2.2%) and bread and cereals (+2.1%). By contrast, the prices of fresh vegetables (-8.8%) and dairy products (-5.4%) were markedly down in April 2024 compared with April 2023.
Inflation rate excluding food and energy at +3.0%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +2.6% in April 2024. The inflation rate excluding food and energy, often referred to as core inflation, was +3.0%. These rates also demonstrate that inflation in other important product groups exceeded overall inflation. Although the year-on-year change in the consumer price index excluding food and energy has slowed slightly (March 2024: +3.3%, February and January 2024: +3.4% each), it has been higher than the overall inflation rate since January 2024.
Below-average rise in goods prices of 1.2% on April 2023
Goods prices (total) increased by 1.2% in the period from April 2023 to April 2024 and were therefore below overall inflation. The prices of non-durable consumer goods and durable consumer goods rose by 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively. Some goods registered notable price increases, however, for example non-alcoholic beverages (+5.8%) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (+5.1%). By contrast, lower prices were observed, for example, for mobile phones (-6.8%) and information processing equipment (-6.6%).
Above-average increase in service prices of 3.4% compared with a year earlier
The prices of services (total) were 3.4% higher in April 2024 than a year earlier. A major factor contributing to the development of service prices were net rents exclusive of heating expenses; at +2.3%, the rate of change slightly exceeded overall inflation. The prices of other services increased even more substantially over that period, including insurance services (+13.1%), services of social facilities (+7.7%) and catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+7.0%). By contrast, the Germany ticket, which has been available since May 2023, continued to have a dampening effect on the increase in service prices also in April 2024. In particular, the combined tickets for rail, bus and the like (-24.0%) cost less than in the same month a year earlier. April 2024 was the last month that this base effect had a dampening impact on the inflation rate, however.
Month-on-month price increase of 0.5%, mainly due to higher energy prices
Compared with March 2024, the consumer price index rose by 0.5% in April 2024. The prices of energy (total) increased by 2.2% month on month. Higher prices were recorded particularly for district heating (+9.1%) and natural gas (+3.9%). One probable reason for this is the end of the temporary reduction (from 19% to 7%) of value added tax on these energy products. In addition, price increases were observed for motor fuels (+3.3%) and heating oil (+2.5%). Consumers also had to pay more for food in general in April 2024 (+0.4%, including fresh vegetables: +2.7%) than in the previous month.
Methodological notes:
An overview explaining the different measuresof the Federal Government and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
The consumer price index (CPI) and the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) differ in coverage and methodology. In contrast to the HICP, the CPI also includes household expenditure on owner-occupied housing, games of chance and broadcasting fees. In addition, the HICP product weights are updated annually. As the weight of housing is much smaller in the HICP basket, price increases in other product groups have a larger impact on the HICP than on the CPI. These differences (coverage, methodology and weighting) explain the differences between the CPI and the HICP for Germany. Explanatory notes on this issue are provided on the website of the Federal Statistical Office, a methodological paper is also available.
Inflation Calculator for personal rate of inflation:
Consumers can use the Personal Inflation Calculator of the Federal Statistical Office to adapt their monthly consumption expenditure on individual product groups according to their own consumption patterns and to calculate their personal inflation rate. In addition, the Price Kaleidoscope gives an overview of the price trend and the weights of various products.
Overall index / subindex | Weighting | Index 2020=100 | Change on same period of previous year | Change on the previous month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
in per mill | % | |||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 119.2 | 2.2 | 0.5 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 132.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Food | 104.69 | 132.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 128.9 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 117.4 | 4.4 | -0.2 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 131.5 | -5.8 | 2.1 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 122.0 | 5.1 | 0.7 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 111.1 | 2.9 | 1.2 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 115.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 107.4 | 2.3 | 0.3 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 106.6 | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 152.1 | -3.2 | 1.5 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 127.7 | -7.8 | 0.2 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 192.1 | -5.4 | 3.9 |
| Healting oil 1 | 1.70 | 211.9 | 6.2 | 2.5 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 118.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| Health | 55.49 | 107.6 | 2.9 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 125.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 149.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 147.7 | 1.9 | 4.2 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 155.5 | 2.8 | 0.7 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 99.2 | 0.0 | -0.4 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 114.8 | 1.8 | 0.1 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 121.3 | 2.5 | -0.3 |
| Education | 9.06 | 113.6 | 4.9 | 0.2 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 125.9 | 6.4 | 0.6 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 118.9 | 6.4 | 0.7 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 114.6 | 3.0 | 0.3 |
More information:
Detailed results can be found in the tables on the consumer price index (61111-0004) and (61111-0006) and on the harmonised index of consumer prices (61121-0002) and (61121-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database. Special items shown in Tables (61111-0006) and (61121-0006) contain CPI and HICP results which are used to measure "core inflation". The table ""Verbraucherpreisindex – Preisentwicklung für Nahrungsmittel" (only in German) contains information on changes in the prices of individual food products.
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, has released provisional results on Euro area inflation for April 2024 (available on Eurostat’s website under News > Euro indicators).
Consumer price index results are also available on Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
