Press release No. 448 of 12 November 2020
Consumer price index, October 2020
-0.2% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.1% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, October 2020
-0.5% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
0.0% 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 October 2020. This was the third time this year that the inflation rate was slightly negative (July 2020: -0.1%, September 2020: -0.2%). A lower rate of inflation was last measured in January 2015 (-0.3%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices rose by 0.1% compared with September 2020.
Value added tax cut effective from 1 July 2020 continues to dampen prices
One of the reasons for the negative inflation rate was again 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 1.5% year on year due to lower energy prices
The prices of goods (total) fell by 1.5% from October 2019 to October 2020. This was mainly due to price decreases for energy products (-6.8%). In a year-on-year comparison, prices fell especially for heating oil (-37.2%) and motor fuels (-10.7%). Food prices, however, rose by 1.4% on the same month of the previous year. Higher prices were recorded in particular for meat and meat products (+4.1%) and fruit (+3.8%), while the prices of edible fats and oils declined (-3.5%). Notable price rises were also observed for tobacco products (+5.4%). Markedly lower prices were recorded for some consumer durables such as telephones (-6.7%), information processing equipment (-5.3%) and consumer electronics (-5.0%).
Inflation rate excluding energy products up 0.6%
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 October 2020.
Service prices up 1.0% year on year
The prices of services (total) were up 1.0% in October 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. Some prices of services of minor importance went up even further. For example, there were price increases for bank charges (+6.4%), home care services (+6.6%) and service charges for games of chance (+13.7%). The latter resulted above all from the higher prices in the "6 aus 49" lottery. In contrast , the prices of long-distance transport tickets were markedly down (-17.1%), one of the reasons being the reduction of value-added tax on long-distance rail tickets from 19% to 7% that took effect at the beginning of the year.
Prices of heating oil and vegetables up year on year
Compared with September 2020, the overall consumer price index rose only slightly by 0.1% in October 2020. Regarding energy products, consumers had to pay more especially for heating oil (+3.2%) after heating oil prices had fallen by 6.9% in September month on month. As to food (+0.4%), prices went up in particular for vegetables (+3.1%) in October 2020 compared with September 2020. In contrast, the prices of dental services dropped by -6.3% because health insurance funds paid higher subsidies for dentures of people insured under a statutory health insurance scheme.
Inflation rate of -0.3% expected for euro area
In October 2020, the harmonised index of consumer prices for Germany (HICP), which is calculated for international comparisons, was 0.5% below the level of October 2019. According to the Eurostat early estimate of 30 October 2020, the inflation rate in the euro area was -0.3%. The HICP will next be released on 18 November 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 October 2020, it should be noted that those effects are no longer reflected in the month-on-month comparison.
As restrictions to contain the pandemic have again been introduced on 2 November 2020, an increasing number of monthly prices cannot be collected. This does not affect the results for the month of October. More information about the methods used during the corona crisis and the impact on price collection are provided in 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 month of the previous year | 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 | 105.9 | -0.2 | 0.1 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 108.5 | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Food | 84.87 | 109.2 | 1.4 | 0.4 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 113.8 | 4.1 | 0.2 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 113.4 | 3.8 | 0.0 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 106.3 | 1.5 | 3.1 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 114.5 | 2.4 | -0.1 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 104.7 | -1.8 | 1.6 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 105.3 | -0.1 | 0.1 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 107.5 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 97.7 | -4.9 | 0.0 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 109.3 | 1.9 | 0.0 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 95.1 | -1.5 | 0.0 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 72.0 | -37.2 | 3.2 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 102.2 | -0.8 | 0.1 |
| Health | 46.13 | 104.2 | -0.5 | -0.9 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 103.7 | -2.6 | 0.1 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 92.5 | -10.7 | 0.5 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 92.8 | -8.9 | 0.7 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 91.4 | -16.1 | 0.0 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 92.9 | -3.0 | -0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 106.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | (109.5) | (-6.0) | (-3.7) |
| Education | 9.02 | 102.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 112.2 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 108.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 106.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 107.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 106.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 103.5 | -1.5 | 0.3 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 104.3 | -1.6 | 0.2 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 96.0 | -6.8 | 0.2 |
| Services | 531.84 | 108.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
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).
