Press release No. 225 of 12 May 2021
Consumer price index, April 2021
+2.0% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.7% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, April 2021
+2.1% 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 +2.0% in April 2021. The inflation rate increased for the fourth month in a row after the temporary reduction of the value added tax rates had ended. That level was last recorded in April 2019. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices were up 0.7% compared with March 2021.
Above-average increase in energy prices of 7.9% compared with a year earlier
The prices of goods (total) increased by 2.6% between April 2020 and April 2021. Energy product prices were 7.9% higher than a year earlier, after +4.8% in March 2021. In addition to the CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of the year, the decrease in energy product prices of a year earlier had an impact on the inflation rates (base effect). Compared with a year ago, higher prices were recorded especially for motor fuels (+23.3%) and heating oil (+21.1%), while electricity prices declined slightly (-0.2%). Food prices rose by 1.9%. Higher prices than a year earlier were recorded, for example, for confectionery (+3.1%) and also dairy products and butter (+2.5%). Marked price rises were observed for plants and flowers (+7.5%), coffee products (+5.1%) and tobacco products (+4,5%). However, notable price decreases were recorded for mobile phones (-8.3%).
Inflation rate excluding energy at +1.4%
The year-on-year increases in energy product prices had a clear upward effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate would have been +1.4% in April 2021; excluding the prices of heating oil and motor fuels, it would have been only +1.2%.
Service prices up 1.6% year on year
The prices of services (total) increased by 1.6% in April 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%. Considerably higher prices had to be paid, for instance, for hairdresser services and other services for personal care (+6.1%), services of social facilities (+5.9%) and financial services (+5.6%). By contrast, the prices of telecommunication services, for example, were down by 1.0%.
Notable month-on-month increase of 9.0% in the prices of fresh vegetables
Compared with March 2021, the consumer price index rose by 0.7%. The increasing food prices (+1.3%) are worth mentioning in this context. Consumers had to pay more especially for fresh vegetables (+9.0%) compared with the previous month. However, the prices of energy products went down slightly (-0.1%); heating oil prices decreased in particular (-2.2%).
Methodological notes:
The current corona crisis caused some price collection problems again in April 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 results of consumer price statistics remains unaffected.
The difference between the CPI and the HICP for Germany is mainly due to the fact that the weights of the goods were updated at different points in time, see methodological paper (only in german).
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.
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 period a year 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 | 108.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 113.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| Food | 84.87 | 114.4 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 117.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 116.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 122.1 | 1.8 | 6.7 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 116.8 | 3.1 | 1.5 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 103.6 | (-0.8) | -0.1 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 107.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 108.2 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 102.7 | 1.0 | -0.3 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 111.0 | -0.2 | 0.0 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 99.2 | 2.1 | -0.1 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 108.6 | 21.1 | -2.2 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 104.6 | (0.7) | 0.1 |
| Health | 46.13 | 105.8 | -0.3 | 0.1 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 111.2 | 7.1 | 0.5 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 110.7 | 23.3 | 0.4 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 109.6 | 24.8 | 0.6 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 113.5 | 19.5 | -0.7 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.2 | -1.6 | -0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 104.5 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | (95.6) | (-3.1) | (14.4) |
| Education | 9.02 | 104.1 | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | (112.9) | (1.3) | (0.4) |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 110.8 | 3.0 | 0.2 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 107.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 108.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 108.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 107.8 | 2.6 | 0.5 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 110.1 | 3.9 | 0.6 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 105.4 | 7.9 | -0.1 |
| Services | 531.84 | 108.6 | 1.6 | 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).
