Germany experienced a stable decline in producer prices in August, albeit at a slower-than-anticipated rate, according to data released by Destatis on Friday.
In August, producer prices fell annually by 0.8 percent, maintaining the same rate of decline observed in July. Analysts had predicted a slightly larger drop of 1.0 percent. It's notable that prices have been on a downward trend since July 2023.
The primary factor behind August's overall price decline was a reduction in energy costs, which decreased by 4.6 percent compared to the previous year. This decline was chiefly influenced by lower natural gas and electricity prices.
When energy prices are excluded, producer prices actually increased by 1.2 percent from August 2023 and remained unchanged from July.
Intermediate goods saw a 0.7 percent year-over-year price increase, while capital goods prices rose by 2.0 percent. Consumer goods costs also experienced a 1.0 percent increase.
On a month-to-month basis, producer prices saw a modest and steady rise of 0.2 percent in August, contrary to expectations that they would remain flat.
