Press release No. 069 of 22 February 2023
Consumer price index, January 2023
+8.7% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+1.0% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, January 2023
+9.2% 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 (CPI), stood at +8.7% in January 2023. The revision introducing the new base year 2020 resulted in inflation rates of +8.1% for December 2020 and +8.8% for November 2020. The price increase thus accelerated at the beginning of the year. “Following a slowdown at the end of last year, the inflation rate thus remains at a high level”, says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. She adds: “We are observing price rises for many goods and, to an increasing degree, also for services. Households paid higher prices in particular for energy and food also in January.” The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in January 2023 were up 1.0% on December 2022.
The consumer price index for Germany is revised and a new base year is introduced at regular intervals. With effect from reference month January 2023, the index has been rebased from the previous base 2015 to base year 2020. In the process, weighting patterns have been updated and methodological changes implemented. In a press background briefing on 22 February 2023 at 10 a.m., the Federal Statistical Office will provide detailed information on the methodological developments and the results of the revision. The background briefing can be watched on livestream at www.destatis.de. A detailed background document on the revision will be published on the press conferences overview page (only in german) at the beginning of the background briefing.
Special effects caused by the situation of war and crisis keep the price increase at a high level
Energy and food prices, in particular, have increased considerably since the war started in Ukraine and have had a substantial impact on the inflation rate. Due to the situation of war and crisis, delivery bottlenecks and price movements at upstream stages in the economic process also have an impact on the inflation rate, which in turn leads to price increases for other goods and services. As part of the Federal Government’s third relief package, measures have been adopted to curb inflation. This is reflected in the consumer price index.
Prices of energy products up 23.1% year on year
Energy product prices in January 2023 were 23.1% higher year on year despite the relief measures. In December 2022, the rate of food price increase was +20.3%. The main reason of the price increase observed in January 2023 probably was the end of the December immediate assistance. The increase in energy prices is slowed to some extent by the electricity, natural gas and district heating price freezes. The development of energy prices is however influenced by many factors, including international purchase prices.
A particularly large increase was again recorded for household energy prices from January 2022 to January 2023 (+36.5%). Prices rose by 51.7% for natural gas and by 26.0% for district heating. The prices of firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels were up 49.6%, and prices of heating oil 30.6% on a year earlier. Electricity prices increased by 25.7% despite the electricity price freeze and the abolishment of the EEG surcharge.The rate of price increase for motor fuels (+7.0%) was below the overall inflation rate.
20.2% increase in food prices year on year
Food prices were up 20.2% in January 2023 year on year. The rate of food price increase thus was more than twice the overall inflation rate again. This means that there was hardly any change in the food price increase at the beginning of 2023 (December 2022: +20.4%). Higher prices were seen in all food groups also in January 2023. Considerably higher prices were recorded for dairy products and eggs (+35.8%) as well as edible fats and oils (+33.8%). Marked price rises were also observed for bread and cereals(+22.7%), for example.
Inflation rate excluding energy and food at +5.6%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +7.2% in January 2023. The extent to which food prices currently affect the overall rate of price increase is shown by the inflation rate when energy and food are excluded. It was markedly lower at +5.6%. The inflation rate excluding energy and food nevertheless shows that inflation is high also for other product groups. This rate had been above the five-percent threshold already in December 2022 (+5.2%) and it rose further in January.
Prices of goods up 12.7% on January 2022
The prices of goods (total) were up 12.7% in January 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. The price increase for non-durable consumer goods was particularly large (+17.0%). Considerable price rises were recorded not only for energy and food but also for non-durable consumer goods for housekeeping (+14.6%) and for tobacco products (+8.0%). Prices of durable consumer goods were up 6.2% on the same month of the previous year. Substantial price increases were observed especially for furniture and lighting equipment (+10.2%) as well as vehicles (+8.4%).
Service prices up 4.5% year on year
The prices of services (total) were up 4.5% in January 2023 on the same month of the previous year. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses rose 2.0%. Above-average price increases were observed for some services, for example, for maintenance and repair of dwellings (+16.9%) and catering services in restaurants, cafes and the like (+10.9%). Prices were down year on year for a very small number of services, for instance, telecommunications services (-1.1%).
Total energy prices were up 8.3% on the previous month
Compared with December 2022, the consumer price index rose by 1.0% in January 2023. Total energy prices increased by 8.3%. Marked price increases were recorded for natural gas (+46.1%) and district heating (+63.9%), and electricity prices were up, too (+6.5%). The increase in natural gas and district heating prices reflects the end of the December immediate assistance. The price freezes for natural gas, district heating and electricity slowed the price increase only in part in January 2023. Among mineral oil products, motor fuel prices increased (+1.9%), whereas heating oil prices were down (-3.3%). Also, households again paid more for food (+1.6%), in particular for dairy products (+2.6%). Seasonal price decreases were observed especially for package holidays (-19.1%), air tickets (-15.7%) and clothing (-5.4%).
Methodological notes:
The third relief package has been adopted by the Federal Government and contains measures aimed at containing the increase in energy prices. The reduction of the turnover tax on gas and district heating from 19% to 7% became effective in October 2022, and in November 2022 that legal provision was retrospectively introduced also for liquefied gas to apply as of October 2022. In addition, the one-off payment of the December 2022 gas and heating invoices ("December immediate assistance") was adopted as a relief measure because of the rise in energy prices. It is partly reflected in the index but ceased to apply in January 2023. The abolishment of the EEG surcharge as of July 2022 is still reflected in the index as regards electricity. Natural gas, district heating and electricity price brakes were newly introduced in 2023, taking effect retrospectively from January 2023. An overview explaining the relief measures and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
In addition, the CO2 charge was raised from 25 to 30 euros per tonne of CO2 at the beginning of 2022. Consequently, this no longer affects the 2023 calculation of the rates of increase in energy product prices. A further increase planned for 2023 has been suspended.
The consumer price index (CPI) and the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) differ in coverage and methodology. In contrast to the HICP, the CPI includes also household expenditure on owner-occupied housing, games of chance and broadcasting fees. In addition, the HICP product weights are updated annually. As the weight of housing is much smaller in the HICP basket, price increases in other product groups have a larger impact on the HICP than on the CPI. These differences (coverage, methodology and weighting) explain the in part considerable differences between the CPI and the HICP for Germany.
Explanatory notes and a methodological paper which discusses this issue are provided on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
Note: consumer price statistics revision
The results for reference month January 2023 refer to the new base year 2020. The results of the consumer price index for Germany were recalculated from January 2020 onwards. The following table compares the newly calculated rates of price increase with those previously published for the years 2022 and 2021:
| Base year | A | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A = annual average | |||||||||||||
| 2022 | |||||||||||||
| 2020 (new) | 6.9 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 8.1 |
| 2015 (previous) | 7.9 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 10.0 | 10.4 | 10.0 | 8.6 |
| 2021 | |||||||||||||
| 2020 (new) | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| 2015 (previous) | 3.1 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 5.3 |
Information on the revision especially for users of consumer price indices in stable-value clauses is available under the heading "Wertsicherung" (only in german) on the "Consumer price index and inflation rate" page of the Federal Statistical office's website.
Inflation Calculator informs about personal rate of inflation:
Consumers can use the Personal Inflation Calculator of the Federal Statistical Office to adapt their monthly consumption expenditure on individual product groups according to their own consumption patterns and to calculate their personal inflation rate. In addition, the Price Kaleidoscope gives an overview of the price trend and the weights of various products.
| Overall index / subindex | Weighting | Index 2020=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 operating costs. | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 114.3 | 8.7 | 1.0 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 127.0 | 19.2 | 1.5 |
| Food | 104.69 | 128.4 | 20.2 | 1.6 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 125.1 | 18.9 | 0.3 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 109.4 | 5.0 | 1.9 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 126.1 | 11.5 | 2.9 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 113.0 | 8.1 | 1.8 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 100.6 | 2.8 | -4.7 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 114.0 | 8.9 | 3.3 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 104.4 | 2.1 | 0.3 |
| Imputed rent | 104.13 | 103.8 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 157.1 | 36.5 | 13.0 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 138.9 | 25.7 | 6.5 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 201.0 | 51.7 | 46.1 |
| Heating oil 1 | 1.70 | 230.2 | 30.6 | -3.3 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 115.6 | 9.4 | 0.7 |
| Health | 55.49 | 103.9 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 121.3 | 7.5 | 0.1 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 144.6 | 7.0 | 1.9 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 138.6 | 4.2 | 2.2 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 162.7 | 14.7 | 1.1 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 99.4 | -0.6 | 0.0 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 109.3 | 5.9 | -2.1 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 97.5 | 6.2 | -19.1 |
| Education | 9.06 | 107.7 | 3.6 | 0.9 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 116.1 | 10.4 | 1.2 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 110.3 | 6.3 | 1.4 |
More information:
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 (61121-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database. The table "Verbraucherpreisindex – Preisentwicklung für Nahrungsmittel" (only in german) contains information on changes in the prices of individual food products.
Consumer price index results are available in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in german). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in german) tool, which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions are having an impact on many parts of the economy and society. Relevant data and information are provided on a special webpage (www.destatis.de/ukraine).
