Germany's producer prices declined at a record pace in August mainly due to the base effect caused by the very high price level of the previous year, preliminary data from Destatis showed on Wednesday.
The producer price index, or PPI, fell 12.6 percent year-over-year in August, much faster than the 6.0 percent decline in the prior month, which was the first decline since November 2020.
That was in line with economists' expectations.
Further, the latest rate of fall was the biggest since data collection began in 1949.
The sharp downward trend in August was attributable to a base effect caused by the very high price level of the previous year, the agency said.
Energy prices slumped 31.9 percent over the year because lower electricity prices had the biggest influence on the rate of change for energy.
Excluding energy, producer prices rose 1.2 percent yearly in August, while they dropped by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis.
Prices for intermediate goods were 4.1 percent lower compared to last year, while those for non-durable consumer goods rose by 6.9 percent. Price increases for consumer goods and capital goods continued to slow in August.
On a monthly basis, producer prices moved up 0.3 percent in August, reversing a 1.1 percent drop in July. The expected increase was 0.2 percent.
