Press release No. 057 of 10 February 2021
Consumer price index, January 2021
+1.0% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.8% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, January 2021
+1.6% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+1.4% 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 (CPI), stood at +1.0% in January 2021, following a 0.3% decrease in December 2020. A positive inflation rate was last seen in June 2020 (+0.9%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices rose by 0.8% compared with December 2020.
End of the temporary reduction in the value added tax rates has an upward effect on prices
The temporary reduction in the rates of value added tax, which was a measure of the Federal Government's stimulus package, ended on 31 December 2020. The reduced tax rate only continues to apply to restaurants and catering services. The fact that the higher tax rates since January 2021 have been passed on to the consumers is one reason for the increase in consumer prices. As it was the case with the reduction of value added tax rates in summer, the real effects of returning to the usual tax rates do not necessarily correspond to the effects determined in purely mathematical terms. More information is provided in press release no. 215 on the “Impact of the value added tax cut on consumer prices” of 15 June 2020.
Rising food prices, but energy prices still lower than a year ago
The prices of goods (total) were up 0.6% in January 2021 from January 2020. Food prices rose by 2.2%. As a result, the price increase has markedly accelerated (December 2020: +0.5%). Higher prices were recorded in particular for meat and meat products (+3.5%), fruit (+3.2%) and vegetables (+3.1%). In contrast, the prices of energy products were 2.3% lower than in the same month a year earlier. Lower year-on-year prices were recorded for heating oil (-13.0%) and motor fuels (-2.9%). The prices of natural gas (+2.0%) and electricity (+1.2%) were higher than a year earlier, despite the decrease in the EEG surcharge. The overall decline in energy products prices, however, has markedly slowed down (December 2020: -6.0%). In addition to the end of the reduction in value added tax, the CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of the year has had an impact on prices.
Inflation rate excluding energy at +1.4%
Excluding energy prices, the rate of inflation would have been +1.4% in January 2021.
Service prices up by 1.4% year on year
The prices of services (total) were up 1.4% in January 2021 from January 2020. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household final consumption expenditure, rose by 1.3%. Mention must be made here of the higher prices for services of social facilities (+6.0%) and for the maintenance and repair of vehicles (+3.4%). Compared with the previous year, consumers benefited from lower rail ticket prices (-8.1%).
Month-on-month energy prices up 5.4%
Compared with December 2020, the consumer price index rose by 0.8% in January 2021. The prices of energy products climbed by 5.4%. Marked price increases were recorded in particular for motor fuels (+10.7%) and heating oil (+13.9%). In addition to the end of the value added tax reduction, the CO2 charge had an upward effect on prices. Apart from that, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 2.6%; price increases were observed especially for vegetables (+7.8%) and coffee (+3.8%). Significantly higher prices were also reported for individual services, such as higher fees for lawyer's or notary's services (+11.7%) due to amendments in the Remuneration Act as well as an increase in administrative charges (+7.7%) because of the higher identity card fee.
Methodological notes:
The current corona crisis caused some price collection problems again in January 2021 as some products were not available in the market. For information on the consequences of the lockdown for price collection please refer to our methodological paper. The quality of the provisional overall results continues to be assured.
The consumer price index results are also available on the Corona statistics webpage of the Federal Statistical Office, together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic, the associated restrictions on public life and the resulting consequences require a changed approach to the annual updating of the product weights used in the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). A methodological paper (only in german) which discusses this issue is provided on the website of the Federal Statistical Office. The updating of the HICP product weights explains a considerable part of the difference between the CPI and the HICP for Germany.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between corona crisis and financial and economic crisis
The consumer price index also forms part of the "Crisis Monitor" (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), 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 (www.destatis.de/corona), which provides statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
| 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 | 106.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 111.3 | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| Food | 84.87 | 112.1 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 115.5 | 3.5 | 1.7 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 114.9 | 3.2 | 1.7 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 114.5 | 3.1 | 7.8 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 114.3 | 2.1 | 0.8 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | (101.0) | (1.1) | (1.1) |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 106.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 107.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 101.7 | -1.9 | 2.9 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 110.9 | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 98.9 | 2.0 | 4.2 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 98.2 | -13.0 | 13.9 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | (104.5) | (1.2) | (2.0) |
| Health | 46.13 | 105.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 107.7 | 0.5 | 3.6 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 102.1 | -2.9 | 10.7 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 100.5 | -2.0 | 10.2 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 106.6 | -5.5 | 12.1 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.5 | -1.5 | 2.2 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | (98.4) | (1.7) | (-5.7) |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | (70.0) | (-3.3) | (-28.5) |
| Education | 9.02 | 103.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | (112.5) | (1.8) | (0.3) |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 109.5 | 2.4 | 1.1 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 106.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 106.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 106.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 105.9 | 0.6 | 2.5 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 107.6 | 0.4 | 3.1 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 101.8 | -2.3 | 5.4 |
| Services | 531.84 | 106.6 | 1.4 | -0.8 |
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).
