Deutschland Verbraucherpreise

German consumer price inflation was confirmed at 2.5% year-on-year in February 2024, the lowest rate since June 2021 and nearing the European Central Bank’s target of 2.0%. The primary downward pressure came from a sharp slowdown in food inflation (0.9% vs 3.8% in January), due to lower prices of fresh vegetables (-10.6%), and dairy products (-5.1%). Additionally, costs continued to decline for energy (-2.4% vs -2.8%), despite the discontinuation of the brake on energy prices and the introduction of higher carbon costs. Meanwhile, the services inflation held steady at 3.4%. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, was unchanged at 3.4%, remaining at its lowest level since July 2022. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.4%, in line with market forecasts and up from January’s 0.2% rise.