Press release No. 227 of 12 June 2024
Consumer price index, May 2024
+2.4% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.1% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, May 2024
+2.8% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.2% 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 +2.4% in May 2024. The rate of change was +2.2% in both April and March 2024. "The inflation rate is slightly up again, mainly due to the continued increase in service prices", says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. "By contrast, energy and food prices have had a dampening effect on overall inflation since the beginning of the year", Brand adds. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in May 2024 rose by 0.1% on April 2024.
Energy product prices fell by 1.1% compared with May 2023
Energy product prices in May 2024 declined by 1.1% and again were lower than in the same month a year earlier (April 2024: -1.2%), despite the discontinuation of the brake on energy prices and the simultaneous introduction of a higher carbon price in January 2024, and the end of the temporary VAT reduction for gas and district heating in April 2024. From May 2023 to May 2024, prices of household energy fell by 3.3%. In particular, consumers continued to benefit from lower prices for firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels (-9.5%), electricity (-7.4%), and natural gas (-5.2%). By contrast, the prices of some energy products were higher than a year earlier, in particular district heating (+27.9%). Price increases were also observed for mineral oil products (+2.8%, of which heating oil: +9.7%, motor fuels: +2.2%).
Food prices up 0.6% on May 2023
Food prices (only in German) were up 0.6% in May 2024 compared with the same month a year earlier (April 2024: +0.5%). The inflation rate for food therefore remained significantly below the overall inflation rate. In particular, the prices of dairy products (-5.1%) and fresh vegetables (-3.5%) declined in the period from May 2023 to May 2024. By contrast, there were considerable year-on-year price increases for edible fats and oils (+8.4%, including olive oil (only in German): +48.5%) and sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+6.9%). In May 2024, consumers also had to pay more than a year earlier for fruit (+2.9%), bread and cereals (+1.9%) and meat and meat products (+1.3%).
Inflation rate excluding food and energy at +3.0%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +2.8% in May 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. In April 2024, the year-on-year rate of change in the consumer price index excluding food and energy also stood at 3.0% in April 2024. It has been markedly higher than the overall inflation rate since January 2024.
Below-average rise in goods prices of 1.0% on May 2023
Goods prices (total) increased by 1.0% in the period from May 2023 to May 2024 and were therefore below overall inflation. The prices of non-durable consumer goods and durable consumer goods rose by 1.1% and 1.0%, respectively. Some goods registered notable price increases, however, for example tobacco products (+6.0%) and non-alcoholic beverages (+5.8%). By contrast, lower prices were observed, for example, for mobile phones (-7.4%) and information processing equipment (-6.2%).
Above-average increase of 3.9% in service prices compared with a year earlier
The prices of services (total) in May 2024 were 3.9% higher than in the same month a year earlier, following an increase of 3.4% in April 2024. This was a marked acceleration in the year-on-year price increase, attributable in part to the fact that April 2024 was the last month in which the Germany ticket, which has been available since May 2023, had a downward effect on the inflation rate for services. In May 2024, the combined tickets for rail, bus and the like cost more (+3.5%) than in the same month a year earlier. In April 2024, the rate of change was -24.0% (base effect). The prices of other services rose even more substantially in the period from May 2023 to May 2024, with notable increases again in insurance services (+13.0%), services of social facilities (+7.7%) and catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+6.9%). Markedly higher prices were also observed for package holidays (+5.6%) in May 2024. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses continued to be a major factor contributing to the development of service prices. At +2.2%, the rate of change was slightly lower than overall inflation.
Prices up 0.1% from the previous month
Compared with April 2024, the consumer price index rose by 0.1% in May 2024. In the area of tourism, consumers had to pay more in particular for air tickets (+7.7%) and package holidays (+5.7%), which was partly due to the seasonal effect caused by the early Whitsun holidays. By contrast, the prices of energy (total) fell by 1.3%. Decreases were observed particularly in the prices of heating oil (-6.3%) and motor fuels (-2.3%). Food prices (total) also fell slightly (-0.2%, including vegetables: -0.8%).
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 | Change on same period of previous year | Change on the previous month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
in per mill | % | |||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 119.3 | 2.4 | 0.1 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 132.1 | 1.2 | -0.1 |
| Food | 104.69 | 132.5 | 0.6 | -0.2 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 128.8 | 1.3 | -0.1 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 117.0 | 2.9 | -0.3 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 130.4 | -2.2 | -0.8 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 121.5 | 4.0 | -0.4 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 111.2 | 2.8 | 0.1 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 115.9 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 107.5 | 2.2 | 0.1 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 106.7 | 2.2 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 151.1 | -3.3 | -0.7 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 127.6 | -7.4 | -0.1 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 191.2 | -5.2 | -0.5 |
| Healting oil 1 | 1.70 | 198.6 | 9.7 | -6.3 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 118.2 | 0.8 | -0.3 |
| Health | 55.49 | 107.6 | 2.7 | 0.0 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 125.7 | 2.6 | 0.0 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 146.3 | 2.2 | -2.3 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 145.1 | 1.8 | -1.8 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 149.0 | 4.4 | -4.2 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 99.3 | -0.7 | 0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 115.7 | 1.8 | 0.8 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 128.2 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Education | 9.06 | 113.7 | 4.9 | 0.1 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 126.7 | 6.3 | 0.6 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 119.3 | 6.2 | 0.3 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 114.9 | 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 May 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.
