Press release No. 168 of 14 May 2025
Consumer price index, April 2025:
+2.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.4% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, April 2025:
+2.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.5% 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 +2.1% in April 2025. The rate of inflation has therefore continued to ease since the start of the year, after standing at +2.2% in March 2025, and +2.3% in both January and February 2025. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that the development of energy prices had a significant downward effect on inflation in April 2025. On the other hand, the rise in food prices pushed inflation higher in April 2025 also. In addition, the above-average increases in service prices intensified once again. Compared with March 2025, consumer prices rose by 0.4% in April 2025.
Energy product prices down 5.4% compared with April 2024
The prices of energy products were 5.4% lower in April 2025 than in the same month a year earlier. The price decrease was therefore more pronounced than in the preceding months, having stood at -2.8% in March 2025, and at -1.6% each month in the period from December 2024 to February 2025. Motor fuel prices (-8.3%), in particular, were down in April 2025 from a year earlier. The price of household energy fell by 3.4% in the same period, with consumers benefiting from lower prices for electricity (-2.5%), firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels (-4.6%) and heating oil (-12.8%), in particular. By contrast, district heating was somewhat more expensive (+0.2%) than a year earlier.
2.8% increase in food prices year on year
Food prices in April 2025 were up 2.8% year on year, after +3.0% in March 2025. The rise in food prices therefore slowed slightly but was still higher than the overall rate of inflation in April 2025. In particular, the prices of fruit (+6.0%) and vegetables (+5.6%) rose in the period from April 2024 to April 2025. Price increases registered for edible fats and oils (+4.4%) (only in German), dairy products and eggs (+3.8%), and sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+3.7%) were also higher than overall inflation. Some food groups (only in German) saw price increases that were significantly below average, such as in the case of meat and meat products (+1.3%), bread and cereals (+0.7%) and fish, fish products and seafood (+0.1%).
Inflation rate excluding food and energy at +2.9%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +2.8% in April 2025. The inflation rate excluding food and energy, often referred to as core inflation, was +2.9% in April 2025. Both rates have exceeded overall inflation for over a year, thereby demonstrating that inflation was above average in other important product groups.
Service prices registered above-average increase of 3.9% year on year
The prices of services (total) were 3.9% higher in April 2025 than a year earlier. The increase in service prices therefore accelerated again (March 2025: +3.5%). From April 2024 to April 2025, price increases were recorded particularly in the area of transport, including for package holidays (+9.2%), combined passenger transport services (+11.3%) and air tickets (+19.1%). Above-average price increases were also observed in the area of health and care services, such as for services of social facilities (+9.4%) and in-patient health services (+6.5%). Many other services were also markedly more expensive than a year earlier, such as insurance services (+8.9%), letter and parcel services (+8.2%), the maintenance and repair of vehicles (+5.7%) and catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+4.2%). Net rents exclusive of heating expenses (+2.1%) continued to be a significant factor contributing to the development of service prices. By contrast, only a few services cost less than in the same month a year earlier, for example telecommunications services (-1.2%).
Goods prices up 0.5% on April 2024
The prices of goods (total) rose 0.5% from April 2024 to April 2025. In March 2025, the rate of price increase was +1.0%. Price increases of +0.5% were recorded for both non-durable consumer goods and durable consumer goods in April 2025. Aside from the increase in food prices (+2.8%), other individual products were markedly more expensive, including non-alcoholic beverages (+6.2%), tobacco products (+4.6%) and motor vehicles (+3.5%). By contrast, price decreases were recorded not only for energy (-5.4%) but also for mobile phones (-8.1%) and information processing equipment
(-5.4%), for example.
Prices (total) up 0.4% month on month
Compared with March 2025, the consumer price index was up 0.4% in April 2025. Month-on-month price increases were observed for air travel (+21.0%), package holidays (+5.5%) and fresh vegetables (+3.0%), mainly due to seasonal factors. Food prices (total) remained virtually unchanged (+0.1%) compared with the previous month. By contrast, energy (total) cost 0.6% less than in the previous month, with the prices of motor fuels (-0.8%) and heating oil (-2.5%) falling in particular.
Methodological notes:
An overview explaining the different measures of the Federal Government and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
In the Euro area, the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) is used for the purposes of monetary policy. Apart from the individual purposes they serve, the consumer price index (CPI) and the HICP differ in terms of coverage, methodology and weighting. This explains the differences between the CPI and the HICP for Germany. 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. Explanatory notes and a methodological paper and the HICP results are also available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
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 | Change on same period of previous year | Change on the previous month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Index | ||||
in per mill | % | |||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 121.7 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 136.5 | 3.3 | 0.2 |
| Food | 104.69 | 136.5 | 2.8 | 0.1 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 130.6 | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 124.4 | 6.0 | 0.1 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 138.8 | 5.6 | 2.4 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 125.2 | 2.6 | 0.6 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 112.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 117.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 109.6 | 2.0 | 0.3 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 108.8 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 146.9 | -3.4 | -0.3 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 124.5 | -2.5 | -0.2 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 191.8 | -0.2 | 0.2 |
| Healting oil 1 | 1.70 | 184.7 | -12.8 | -2.5 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 118.2 | -0.3 | 0.1 |
| Health | 55.49 | 110.6 | 2.8 | 0.0 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 127.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 137.3 | -8.3 | -0.8 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 135.2 | -8.5 | -0.3 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 142.5 | -8.4 | -2.1 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 98.3 | -0.9 | -0.2 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 116.6 | 1.6 | 0.6 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 132.5 | 9.2 | 5.5 |
| Education | 9.06 | 119.0 | 4.8 | 0.3 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 130.6 | 3.7 | 0.5 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 126.0 | 6.0 | 0.4 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 117.9 | 2.9 | 0.5 |
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) on the "Verbraucherpreisindex und Inflationsrate" page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website 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 2025 (available on Eurostat’s website under News > Euro indicators).
Results for the consumer price index can also be found on the Economic Dashboard, which is part of Dashboard Germany (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 tool (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
