Press release No. 360 of 20 September 2024
Producer prices of industrial products (domestic sales), August 2024
-0.8% on the same month a year earlier
+0.2% on the previous month
WIESBADEN – The producer prices of industrial products were 0.8% lower in August 2024 than in August 2023. In July 2024, the year-on-year change rate also stood at -0.8%. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that producer prices in August 2024 were up 0.2% on July 2024.
Lower energy prices were the main reason for the year-on-year decline in producer prices also in August 2024, while higher prices had to be paid for capital, consumer and intermediate goods.
Sharp declines in the prices of natural gas (distribution) and electricity
Energy cost 4.6% less in August 2024 than in August 2023. Compared with July 2024, energy prices were up 0.8%. Lower prices for natural gas and electricity had the biggest influence on the year-on-year rate of change for energy. Across all customer groups, gas prices declined by 10.1% from August 2023; they were up 2.0% on July 2024. In August 2024, electricity cost 9.2% less than in August 2023 but 1.9% more than in July 2024, across all consumer groups.
The prices of mineral oil products were down 4.7% from August 2023 and declined by 2.5% from July 2024. Light heating oil cost 11.5% less than in August 2023 (-4.0% compared with July 2024). Motor fuel prices dropped by 8.3% year on year (-3.2% from July 2024).
Excluding energy prices, producer prices in August 2024 were up 1.2% from the same month of the previous year and remained unchanged compared with July 2024.
Slight price increase for intermediate goods
Intermediate goods prices were 0.7% higher in August 2024 than a year earlier. Compared with the previous month, they declined by 0.3%. Different price trends were seen within the individual product groups.
Price increases compared with August 2023 were observed for electric transformers (+5.4%), stone, gravel, sand, clay and kaolin (+4.9%), plaster products for construction purposes (+4.6%) and wiring and wiring devices (+1.4%).
Wood and products of wood and cork were 1.5% less expensive than in August 2023. Particle boards cost 10.0% less than in the same month of the previous year and fibre board prices were down 4.8%. Non-coniferous timber was 5.8% less expensive compared with August 2023, whereas coniferous timber was 8.2% more expensive than a year earlier.
Metals cost 2.0% less in August 2024 than in August 2023. The prices of basic iron, steel and ferro-alloys were significantly lower (-8.1%) than in the same month of the previous year. The prices of bar steel declined by 5.6% year on year. By contrast, copper and semi-finished copper products cost 6.1% more than in August 2023 (-4.9% compared with July 2024).
Basic chemicals (total) were 1.1% less expensive than in the same month of the previous year. Prepared feeds for farm animals cost 7.2% less than a year earlier, and the prices of glass and glass products were down 5.0%.
Price increases for capital goods, non-durable and durable consumer goods
In August 2024, capital goods prices rose 2.0% year on year (+0.1% compared with July 2024). Machinery cost 2.1% more than in August 2023. The prices of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers increased by 1.4% from a year earlier.
Non-durable consumer goods cost 1.0% more in August 2024 than in August 2023 (+0.1% compared with July 2024). Food was 0.7% more expensive than in August 2023. Butter prices were much higher than in the same month of the previous year (+41.7%; +4.2% compared with July 2024), and confectionery also cost considerably more than in August 2023 (+22.0%). Processed and preserved fruit and vegetables were 5.2% more expensive than a year earlier. By contrast, the price of pork, in particular, was lower in August 2024 than in August 2023 (-11.6%).
Durable consumer goods cost 0.9% more in August 2024 than in the same month of the previous year (+0.2% compared with July 2024).
Rebasing the producer price index for industrial products
The producer price index for industrial products was rebased to 2021 as of reference month January 2024. As a general rule, the base year is changed every five years. The recalculation of the producer price index relies on a weighting scheme that is based on the domestic sales of industrial products in 2021 and is used for weighting the subindices in the calculation of the overall index.
When the base year was changed, all indices as of January 2021 were recalculated, taking account of the new weighting scheme. The price indices determined using the old base of 2015 are therefore no longer valid. More information on the rebasing of the producer price index for industrial products (only in German) is available in the “Revisionen in der Preisstatistik” (only in German) section on the “Preisstatistik im Überblick” (only in German) page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website.
Methodological notes:
The producer price index for industrial products measures the development of prices for products produced and sold in Germany by the mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and energy and water supply sectors. All charges and taxes on goods are included, except value-added tax. The index therefore reflects price developments at an early stage of the economic process. The 15th of each reference month is the survey reference date.
More information:
The statistical report (only in German) on producer price indices of industrial products (domestic sales) also includes the latest results. Long time series for the overall index are available in the table on producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0002) and for sub-indices in the table producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0004) in the GENESIS-Online database.
Information on CO₂ pricing under the Fuel Emission Allowance Trading Act is provided on the “Producer price index for industrial products” page.
Producer prices of industrial products are also available on Dashboard Germany at www.dashboard-deutschland.de (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, the labour market, construction, housing, energy and Ukraine. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (only in German) tool for real-time economic monitoring.
Important information regarding the GENESIS-Online database:
Our database's new user interface will leave the beta phase and go online in the second half of October 2024. The new interface will offer faster data retrieval and intuitive table search and customisation options. There will also be changes to the structure of the machine-readable flat file (CSV) format and the data output format for table downloads. For further details and other important information on the release, please see the info page of the new GENESIS-Online database.
