Press release No. 423 of 10 September 2021
Consumer price index, August 2021
+3.9% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.0% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, August 2021
+3.4% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.1% 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 +3.9% in August 2021. Thus, the inflation rate is approaching the four percent mark. The rate already stood at +3.8% in July 2021, after +2.3% in June 2021. A higher inflation rate was last measured in December 1993 (+4.3%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices remained unchanged compared with July 2021.
Temporary special effects have an upward effect on the inflation rate
There are a number of reasons for the increase in the inflation rate since July 2021, which include base effects due to low prices in 2020. "Especially the temporary value added tax reduction and the sharp decline in mineral oil product prices in 2020 will continue to have an upward effect on the year-on-year overall inflation rate until the end of 2021. Additional factors are the introduction of CO2 pricing as of January 2021 and crisis-related effects, such as marked price increases at upstream stages in the economic process. So far, however, only some of these price increases have had a moderate impact on the consumer price index." said Christoph-Martin Mai, Head of the Consumer Prices Section at the Federal Statistical Office.
Substantial increase in energy prices of 12.6% compared with a year earlier
The prices of goods (total) increased by 5.6% between August 2020 and August 2021, which was above average. Especially the increase in Energy product prices (+12.6%) was markedly higher than overall inflation. The price increase for such products accelerated again (July 2021: +11.6%). In this context, especially the low price level of a year ago (base effects) and the CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of the year had an upward effect on the inflation rate. Marked price increases were recorded for heating oil (+57.3%) and motor fuels (+26.7%). The prices of natural gas (+4.9%) and electricity (+1.7%) rose, too.
Food prices rose by 4.6% in August 2021 compared with the same month of the previous year. Compared with August 2020, higher prices were observed especially for vegetables (+9.0%) and dairy products and eggs (+5.0%). In addition to non-durable consumer goods, consumer durables such as transport equipment (+5.5%) and furniture and lighting equipment (+4.0%) saw significant price increases. Declining prices were only recorded for few goods, such as television sets and the like (-0.7%).
Inflation rate excluding energy at +3.0%
The year-on-year increases in energy product prices and food prices had a clear upward effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy product prices, the inflation rate would have been +3.0% in August 2021; excluding the prices of both product groups, it would have been +2.8%.
Service prices up 2.5% year on year
The prices of services (total) increased by 2.5% in August 2021 compared with the same month a year earlier. There was a below-average increase of 1.4% in net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household final consumption expenditure. Larger price increases were observed, among other things, for maintenance and repair of vehicles (+5.1%), services of social facilities (+5.0%) and for catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+3.5%).
Stable prices compared with the previous month
The consumer price index in August 2021 remained stable compared with July 2021. The prices of food (total), too, remained unchanged. However, there were some contrary price trends for individual products (for example, vegetables: -1.0%, edible fats and oils: +0.8%). Prices of energy products (total) only rose slightly by 0.4%. Here, motor fuel prices increased (+0.9%), whereas heating oil prices were down (-1.7%).
Methodological note:
The further year-on-year increase of the inflation rate in July 2021 is caused, in particular, by base effects. The value-added tax rates were reduced from July to December 2020 on account of the coronavirus crisis. At the same time, there are other price effects such as CO2 pricing and the usual market developments. For more background information and analyses regarding the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for price development please refer to our “StatGespräch” podcast on inflation (in German). Here we shed light on the role of base effects and the future of price collection.
The situation of price collection caused by the corona crisis was getting less tense in July 2021 as the shop-based retail business and food service and accommodation establishments were largely open or could offer their services again. For information on the consequences of the lockdown for price collection please refer to our methodological paper on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on price collection. The quality of the results of consumer price statistics remains unaffected.
The coronavirus pandemic, the associated restrictions on public life and the resulting consequences required a changed approach to the annual updating of the product weights used in the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). A methodological paper which discusses this issue is provided on the webpage 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.
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. | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 110.1 | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 113.3 | 4.5 | 0.0 |
| Food | 84.87 | 114.1 | 4.6 | 0.0 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 118.0 | 3.5 | 0.2 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 115.8 | 2.5 | -0.2 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 113.4 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 117.2 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 101.6 | 3.5 | -1.0 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 108.0 | 2.6 | 0.1 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 108.7 | 1.4 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 104.2 | 5.9 | 0.1 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 111.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 100.0 | 4.9 | 0.4 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 118.0 | 57.3 | -1.7 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 105.2 | 3.1 | 0.3 |
| Health | 46.13 | 105.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 115.0 | 10.5 | 0.5 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 117.6 | 26.7 | 0.9 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 116.7 | 26.4 | 1.2 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 120.3 | 27.8 | 0.3 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 113.3 | 3.3 | -0.5 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | 129.5 | 1.5 | -2.9 |
| Education | 9.02 | 103.5 | 2.0 | -0.9 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 116.3 | 3.5 | 0.3 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 111.9 | 3.6 | 0.3 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 109.9 | 2.8 | 0.0 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 110.3 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 109.8 | 2.9 | 0.0 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 108.7 | 5.6 | 0.1 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 111.4 | 6.7 | 0.1 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 108.7 | 12.6 | 0.4 |
| Services | 531.84 | 111.3 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
More information on consumer price statistics is contained in Fachserie 17, Reihe 7 "Verbraucherpreise für Deutschland". Detailed data of consumer price statistics can be found in the tables on the consumer price index (61111-0004) and (61111-0006) and on the harmonised index of consumer prices (61121-0002) and (61121-0004) in the GENESIS-Online database.
