Press release No. 117 of 12 March 2021
Consumer price index, February 2021
+1.3% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.7% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, February 2021
+1.6% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.6% 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 +1.3% in February 2021. After the temporary value added tax cut had ended on 31 December 2020, the inflation rate reached its pre-crisis level for the second month in a row. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices rose by 0.7% compared with January 2021.
Energy prices up 0.3% year on year
The prices of goods (total) were up 1.0% in February 2021 on February 2020. Energy products prices (+0.3%) were slightly higher than in the same month a year earlier, after declining by 2.3% in January 2021. In February 2021, year-on-year price increases were recorded especially for motor fuels (+2.4%), natural gas (+2.1%) and heating oil (+1.1%). This was due not only to the CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of the year but also the price increase recorded on the crude oil market. Food prices rose by 1.4%, which means that the increase in food prices slowed down (January 2021: +2.2%). Higher prices were recorded in particular for confectionery and dairy products (+2.7% each). Marked price rises were also observed for tobacco products (+3.9%), although with a lower weight, while notable decreases were recorded, for instance, for mobile phones (-9.2%).
Inflation rate excluding energy at +1.4%
Excluding energy prices, the rate of inflation would have been +1.4% in February 2021.
Net rents exclusive of heating expenses up 1.3% on February 2020
The prices of services (total) were up 1.4% in February 2021 compared with the same month a year earlier. 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%. Higher price increases were recorded, for example, for services of social facilities (+6.5%) and financial services (+6.2%). In contrast to that, the prices of telecommunication services, among others, were down (-1.0%).
Heating oil and motor fuel prices up 3.6% month on month
Compared with January 2021, the consumer price index rose by 0.7% in February 2021. Energy product prices increased by 1.5%; consumers paid more especially for heating oil (+6.5%) and motor fuels (+3.0%). Food prices were up by 0.7% on February 2020, with higher increases especially for vegetables (+2.0%).
Methodological notes:
The current coronavirus crisis again caused price collection problems in February 2021. Some products were not available in the market, shops were closed and there were other reasons why prices could not be collected. For information on the consequences of the lockdown for price collection please refer to our methodological paper. The quality of the results of consumer price statistics 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 updating of the HICP product weights at the beginning of the year in fact accounts for a considerable part of the difference between the CPI and the HICP for Germany, see methodological paper (only in german).
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 | 107.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 112.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Food | 84.87 | 112.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 115.8 | 1.9 | 0.3 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 115.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 116.8 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 114.8 | 2.6 | 0.4 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | (102.3) | (0.6) | (1.3) |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 106.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 108.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 102.3 | -0.8 | 0.6 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 111.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 99.1 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 104.6 | 1.1 | 6.5 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | (104.7) | (1.5) | (0.2) |
| Health | 46.13 | 105.5 | -0.1 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 108.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 105.2 | 2.4 | 3.0 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 103.5 | 2.2 | 3.0 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 109.8 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.4 | -1.6 | -0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 100.9 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | (80.7) | (-3.5) | (15.3) |
| Education | 9.02 | 103.8 | 1.8 | 0.2 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | (112.5) | (1.4) | (0.0) |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 110.0 | 2.6 | 0.5 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 106.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 107.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 107.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 106.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 108.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 103.3 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Services | 531.84 | 107.3 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
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).
