Press release No. 402 of 13 October 2020
Consumer price index, September 2020
-0.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
-0.2% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, September 2020
-0.4% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
-0.4% 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 -0.2% in September 2020. This was the second time this year that the inflation rate fell below zero (July 2020: -0.1%). A lower rate was last measured in January 2015 (-0.3%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices also decreased by 0.2% when compared with August 2020.
Value added tax cut effective from 1 July 2020 continues to dampen prices
One of the reasons for the low inflation rate is still the temporary value added tax reduction, which was implemented on 1 July 2020 as a measure of the Federal Government's stimulus package. Since then, it has had a downward effect on the consumer prices compared with a year earlier.
Prices of goods down 1.7% year on year, price decrease for energy products accelerated
The prices of goods (total) fell 1.7% from September 2019 to September 2020. This is mainly due to price decreases for energy products (-7.1%), which accelerated again (August 2020: -6.3%). In a year-on-year comparison, prices fell especially for heating oil (-39.6%) and motor fuels (-11.4%). Food prices, however, rose by 0.6% on the same month of the previous year. In September 2020, prices were up on a year earlier especially for fruit (+4.3%) and for meat and meat products (+4.1%), while especially vegetable prices declined (-5.2%). Marked price rises were also observed for tobacco products (+5.7%). Prices were down for some consumer durables such as telephones (-6.1%), consumer electronics (-4.4%), information processing equipment (-3.7%) and clothing (-2.8%).
Inflation rate excluding energy products (+0.6%) higher than overall inflation
The marked year-on-year decrease in energy product prices had a downward effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy product prices, the inflation rate would have been +0.6% in September 2020.
Service prices up 1.0% year on year
The prices of services (total) were up 1.0% in September 2020 on the same month of the previous year. A major factor contributing to this price development was the increase in net rents exclusive of heating expenses (+1.4%), as households spend a large part of their consumption expenditure on this item. Despite the reduction in value added tax, however, higher prices had to be paid for hairdresser services and other services for personal care (+4.8%) and for visits to restaurants, cafés and the like (+2.1%). Even higher price increases were recorded, among other things, for financial services (+5.2%) and services of social facilities (+5.6%), especially for home care services (+6.8%). In contrast, prices of long-distance transport tickets fell markedly (-17.6%). This was largely due to the value-added tax on long-distance rail tickets, which had been reduced from 19% to 7% already at the beginning of the year, and only to a small part to the temporary decrease of the reduced tax rate from 7% to 5%.
Heating oil prices down, but clothing prices up month on month
Compared with August 2020, the overall consumer price index fell by 0.2% in September 2020. Due to seasonal factors, at the end of the summer holidays, prices decreased for overnight stays (-1.6%). Also, energy product prices declined by 0.7%; consumers paid less especially for heating oil (-6.9%). The prices of goods (total) went down slightly (-0.3%) compared with the previous month. However, prices were substantially up both for clothing (+5.6%) and for footwear (+3.6%). A major reason here was the changeover to the autumn/winter collection.
Inflation rate of -0.3% expected for euro area
In September 2020, the harmonised index of consumer prices for Germany (HICP), which is calculated for international comparisons, was 0.4% below the level of September 2019. According to the Eurostat early estimate of 2 October 2020, the inflation rate in the euro area was -0.3%. The HICP will next be released on 16 October 2020 (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/de/news/release-calendar). For HICP results of all European countries please go to the Eurostat pages.
Methodological note:
Since July 2020, the inflation rate has been affected by the reduction in value added tax being passed on to consumers. This can have an impact on year-on-year price changes (total) and in different ways on individual product groups. See press press release no. 215 of 15 June 2020 and no. 305 of 13 August 2020. Consumer price statistics have again been faced with particular challenges due to the temporary reduction in value added tax rates, and especially owing to the different handling of this reduction in the individual shops. When interpreting the results for August 2020, it should be noted that those effects are no longer reflected in the month-on-month comparison.
For more information about the methods used during the corona crisis and the impact on price collection please refer to our Methodological paper.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between corona crisis and financial/economic crisis
The consumer price index also forms part of the "Crisis Monitor" by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the corona crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The Crisis Monitor complements the Corona statistics webpage, which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic since early April.
German EU Council Presidency
As of 1 July, the Federal Statistical Office will organise the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics to be held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020.
| Overall index / subindex | Weighting | Index 2015 = 100 | Change on the same period a month earlier | Change on the preceding month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in per mill | in per cent | |||
1: Results do not include charges. ( ) Limited informational value due to somewhat limited statistical reliability as imputation rates are high (over 50%). | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 105.8 | -0.2 | -0.2 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 108.1 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Food | 84.87 | 108.8 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 113.6 | 4.1 | -0.4 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 113.4 | 4.3 | 0.4 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 103.1 | -5.2 | -0.9 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 114.6 | 2.8 | 0.1 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 103.1 | -2.1 | 5.0 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 105.2 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 107.3 | 1.4 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 97.7 | -4.9 | -0.7 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 109.3 | 1.9 | -0.1 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 95.1 | -1.0 | -0.2 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 69.8 | -39.6 | -6.9 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 102.1 | -0.6 | 0.1 |
| Health | 46.13 | 105.1 | 0.5 | -0.1 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 103.6 | -2.7 | -0.5 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 92.0 | -11.4 | -0.9 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 92.2 | -10.0 | -0.1 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 91.4 | -15.4 | -2.9 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 93.0 | -2.9 | -0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 106.9 | -0.5 | -2.6 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | (113.7) | (-4.4) | (-10.9) |
| Education | 9.02 | 102.7 | 0.4 | 1.2 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 112.2 | 1.8 | -0.2 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 108.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 106.7 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 106.9 | 0.6 | -0.2 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 106.5 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 103.2 | -1.7 | 0.3 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 104.1 | -1.9 | -0.3 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 95.8 | -7.1 | -0.7 |
| Services | 531.84 | 108.0 | 1.0 | -0.6 |
Detailed data and long time series of consumer price statistics can also be found in the Genesis Online database in tables 61111-0004 and 61111-0006 (consumer price index) as well as in tables 61121-0002 and 61121-0004 (harmonised consumer price index).
