Press release No. 057 of 11 February 2022
Consumer price index, January 2022
+4.9% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.4% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, January 2022
+5.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.9% 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 +4.9% in January 2022. In December 2021, it had been +5.3%. “The inflation rate slightly decreased in January, after it had reached its highest level in almost 30 years last December. However, it remains at a high level”, said Dr. Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices were up 0.4% on December 2021.
Crisis-related effects have impact on inflation rate
The inflation rate remains high although base effects have no longer applied since January 2022. These base effects had an upward effect on the inflation rates in 2021 and were caused by the temporary reduction of value added tax rates and the sharp decline in mineral oil product prices in 2020. Crisis-related effects such as delivery bottlenecks and significant price increases at upstream stages in the economic process as well as in energy products continue to have an impact on the current inflation rate.
Energy prices up 20.5% year on year
The prices of goods (total) rose by 7.2% from January 2021 to January 2022. Especially the rise in energy product prices (+20.5%) was markedly higher than overall inflation (December 2021: +18.3%). Motor fuel prices increased 24.8% and household energy prices 18.3%, year on year. Among household energy products, price rises were recorded especially for heating oil (+51.9%), natural gas (+32.2%) and electricity (+11.1%). The price increase for energy products was affected by several factors. In addition to the crisis-related effects, the CO2 charge that increased from 25 euros to 30 euros per tonne of CO2 at the beginning of the year and higher electricity network charges had an impact here. The decrease in the EEG surcharge from 6.5 cents to 3.7 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity had only a small cushioning effect on the price increase.
5.0% increase in food prices compared with a year earlier
Food prices were up 5.0% in January 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year (December 2021: +6.0%). Consumers had to pay markedly more especially for fresh vegetables (+8.3%) and for dairy products and butter (+6.3%). Overall, the prices of non-durable consumer goods, which include not only food but also energy and other convenience goods, were up 9.6% on January 2021.
Inflation rate excluding energy at +3.2%
The year-on-year increases in energy prices had a massive effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate in January 2022 would have been +3.2%; excluding energy and food prices, it would have been +2.9%.
Service prices up 2.9% year on year
The prices of services (total) were up 2.9% in January 2022 on the same month of the previous year. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household consumption expenditure, rose by 1.4% and thus had a downward effect on the overall inflation rate. Price decreases were also observed for telecommunications (-1.0%) and for services of social facilities (-1.3%), the latter being due to the implementation of the long-term care reform adopted in June 2021.
However, the prices of some services were markedly up, including maintenance and repair of dwellings and residential buildings (+9.4%) and of vehicles (+4.9%).
Month-on-month price increase of 0.4% due to higher energy prices
Compared with December 2021, the consumer price index rose by 0.4% in January 2022. Especially the prices of energy products (+7.3%) were up in January 2022. Prices rose both for motor fuels (+3.2%) and household energy (+9.7%, including natural gas: +22.8%, electricity: +9.0%). At the beginning of the year, prices increased also for other products such as letter services (+4.6%) and health insurances (+2.7%). Seasonal price decreases were observed for clothing (-5.2%) and package holidays (-25.1%). There was another noticeable price decrease for services of social facilities (-4.6%) due to the implementation of the long-term care reform regarding full-time residential care services.
Methodological note:
Again, a number of prices could not be collected on a monthly basis due to the measures taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The quality requirements however were met. Where quality reductions were observed for specific product groups, the results have been marked accordingly. More information is contained in a methodological paper.
The coronavirus pandemic and its consequences for public life also require a changed approach to the annual updating of the product weights used in the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). Another methodological paper 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.
More information:
Using our Personal Inflation Calculator, you may compare the official inflation rate with your personal one by modifying the monthly expenditure on some products so that these correspond better to your own consumer habits.
The consumer price index results are also available on the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona) of the Federal Statistical Office together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. 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.
More information on consumer price statistics is contained in Fachserie 17, Reihe 7 "Verbraucherpreise für Deutschland". Detailed results can also 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.
| 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 | 111.5 | 4.9 | 0.4 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 116.7 | 4.9 | 1.6 |
| Food | 84.87 | 117.7 | 5.0 | 1.6 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 120.3 | 4.2 | 0.6 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 117.9 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 123.8 | 8.1 | 6.1 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 118.4 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 100.9 | (-0.1) | -4.3 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 112.2 | 5.2 | 2.4 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 109.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 120.3 | 18.3 | 9.7 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 123.2 | 11.1 | 9.0 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 130.7 | 32.2 | 22.8 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 149.2 | 51.9 | 7.5 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 107.8 | (3.2) | 0.8 |
| Health | 46.13 | 106.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 119.1 | 10.6 | 1.2 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 127.4 | 24.8 | 3.2 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 123.8 | 23.2 | 3.1 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 136.8 | 28.3 | 4.0 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.4 | -0.1 | 0.3 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 103.7 | 5.4 | -5.6 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | 82.0 | (17.1) | -25.1 |
| Education | 9.02 | 105.5 | 1.8 | 0.7 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 117.5 | (4.4) | 0.7 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 112.1 | 2.4 | -0.4 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 109.4 | 2.9 | -0.7 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 110.2 | 3.2 | -0.5 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 110.6 | 3.8 | 0.1 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 113.5 | 7.2 | 1.9 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 117.9 | 9.6 | 3.2 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 122.7 | 20.5 | 7.3 |
| Services | 531.84 | 109.7 | 2.9 | -1.0 |
