Press release No. 311 of 8 August 2023
Consumer price index, July 2023
+6.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.3% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, July 2023
+6.5% 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, stood at +6.2% in July 2023. In June 2023, the inflation rate was +6.4%. "The rate of inflation has fallen slightly but remains at a high level", says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. She adds: "Especially the development of food prices continues to have an upward effect on inflation. In addition, the increase in energy prices was again somewhat larger than in the two previous months. The abolishment of the EEG surcharge with effect from 1 July 2022 created a base effect here." The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in July 2023 rose by 0.3% on June 2023.
Prices of energy products up 5.7% year on year
Energy product prices in July 2023 were 5.7% higher than in the same month a year earlier, following increases of 3.0% and 2.6% in June and May 2023, respectively. The development of electricity prices was especially striking. Consumers had to pay 17.6% more for electricity in July 2023 than in July 2022. June 2023 had seen a year-on-year rise of 10.5%. The large increase is mainly due to the abolishment of the EEG surcharge with effect from 1 July 2022. The downward effect on the inflation rate ceased to apply in the reference month of July 2023.
From July 2022 to July 2023, price increases were particularly pronounced for solid fuels (+12.8%) and natural gas (+8.5%). Below-average price increases were reported for district heating (+2.1%). By contrast, the prices of mineral oil products fell considerably by 7.8%, and the prices of heating oil in particular (-35.5%). Motor fuels also cost less than a year earlier (-4.9%) despite the previous year’s fuel discount.
Food prices remain biggest driver of inflation: +11.0% from July 2022
Food prices in July 2023 were up 11.0% year on year after a 13.7% increase in June 2023. Food therefore remained the biggest driver of inflation among all product groups. Prices continued to be higher than a year earlier in nearly all food groups. In particular, consumers had to pay markedly more for sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+18.9%). There were also considerable year-on-year price increases for bread and cereals (+16.6%), vegetables (+15.7%) and fish, fish products and seafood (+14.1%). By contrast, edible fats and oils cost 12.9% less than a year earlier.
Inflation rate excluding energy and food at +5.5%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +6.2% in July 2023. When energy and food prices are excluded, the inflation rate was lower (+5.5%), which demonstrates the significant role food prices currently play in overall inflation. This rate, which is often referred to as "core inflation", simultaneously demonstrates that inflation also remains high in other product groups. In June 2023, the consumer price index excluding food and energy was slightly higher at +5.8%. This means that core inflation slowed slightly in July 2023.
Goods prices up 7.0% on July 2022
The prices of goods (total) were up 7.0% in July 2023 on the same month of the previous year. The price increase was particularly pronounced for non-durable consumer goods (+8.6%), which was mostly due to higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (+10.9%). The prices of durable consumer goods rose by 4.5% compared with July 2022.
Service prices up 5.2% year on year
The prices of services (total) increased by 5.2% in July 2023 on the same month of the previous year. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses had a dampening effect on prices (+2.1%) and therefore were a significant contributor to the below-average increase in service prices. In addition, the introduction of the Germany ticket has had a slight downward effect on price developments since May 2023. However, an upward base effect enters into play from June 2023 due to the availability of the 9-euro ticket in the period from June to August 2022. Therefore, short-distance rail tickets cost much more (+64.6%) in July 2023 than in July 2022 despite the introduction of the Germany ticket (June 2023: +65.2%, May 2023: +0.6%). Combined tickets for rail, bus and the like were also markedly more expensive as a result, more than doubling in price (+112.5%) from July 2022 (June 2023: +112.8%, May 2023: -22.9%). In addition, the prices of several other services increased considerably, for instance maintenance and repair of dwellings (+12.8%), services of social facilities (+11.6%) and restaurant services (+7.7%).
Prices up 0.3% on the previous month
Compared with June 2023, the consumer price index was up 0.3% in July 2023. Price increases were recorded in particular for package holidays (+11.2%) and transport services (+5.0%). Food prices dropped slightly (-0.3%) compared with the previous month, with a particular decline registered for the prices of fish, fish products and seafood (-2.2%) and vegetables (-1.7%). A similar decrease was observed in the prices of energy (total) (-0.1%). Electricity prices decreased slightly from the previous month (-0.5%). In contrast to the year-on-year comparison, the month-on-month inflation rate for electricity is not affected by the abolishment of the EEG surcharge as of July 2022 because the EEG surcharge has not been included in the rate since July 2022.
Methodological notes:
The “Germany ticket” has been taken into account in the consumer price index since the start of May 2023. It resulted in price reductions in public regional and local passenger transport in May 2023. Compared with the introduction of the “9-euro ticket” for the months from June to August 2022, the impacts were considerably less pronounced. Nonetheless, it did have a slight dampening effect on prices particularly in the services product group. Although the Germany ticket continues to be valid, a year-on-year increase in service prices has been observed since June 2023, especially in the prices for public regional and local passenger transport. A major reason for this increase is the introduction of the 9-euro ticket one year ago (base effect), which now has an upward effect on the development of prices. In addition, the current results are impacted by other measures of the Federal Government's third relief package, which are aimed in particular at containing the increase in energy prices. For example, electricity, natural gas and district heating price caps were introduced in 2023, with retrospective effect from January 2023. The EEG surcharge was set to zero with effect from 1 July 2022. The abolishment had an impact on consumer prices and a slight dampening effect on the year-on-year development of electricity prices between July 2022 and June 2023. This dampening effect will cease to apply from July 2023 onwards because the EEG surcharge is no longer included in the previous year's prices. An overview explaining the different relief measures and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
The consumer price index (CPI) and the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) differ in coverage and methodology. In contrast to the HICP, the CPI includes also household expenditure on owner-occupied housing, games of chance and broadcasting fees. In addition, the HICP product weights are updated annually. As the weight of housing is much smaller in the HICP basket, price increases in other product groups have a larger impact on the HICP than on the CPI. These differences (coverage, methodology and weighting) explain the differences between the CPI and the HICP for Germany. Explanatory notes and a methodological paper which discusses this issue are provided 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 | Index 2020=100 | Change on the same period a year earlier | Change on the preceding month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in per mill | in per cent | |||
| Overall index | 1.000,00 | 117.1 | 6.2 | 0.3 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 130.1 | 10.9 | -0.2 |
| Food | 104.69 | 131.1 | 11.0 | -0.3 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 128.6 | 5.7 | 0.6 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 114.5 | 9.4 | 0.2 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 127.9 | 15.7 | -1.7 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 118.2 | 9.0 | 0.7 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 101.9 | 2.8 | -4.8 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 114.6 | 5.0 | 0.1 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 105.5 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 104.8 | 2.1 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 154.9 | 14.0 | -0.3 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 135.6 | 17.6 | -0.5 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 197.6 | 8.5 | -1.0 |
| Heating oil 1 | 1.70 | 185.5 | -35.5 | 1.7 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 118.1 | 5.9 | 0.3 |
| Health | 55.49 | 105.1 | 3.1 | 0.3 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 124.3 | 5.3 | 1.1 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 144.1 | -4.9 | 0.5 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 143.1 | -0.8 | -0.1 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 145.4 | -16.6 | 2.5 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 116.8 | 6.0 | 1.7 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 143.2 | 9.0 | 11.2 |
| Education | 9.06 | 108.5 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 120.6 | 7.6 | 0.6 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 113.7 | 7.3 | 0.5 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 112.3 | 5.5 | 0.4 |
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) contains information on changes in the prices of individual food products.
Consumer price index results are also available in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions are having an impact on many parts of the economy and society. Relevant data and information are provided on a special webpage (www.destatis.de/ukraine).
