Press release No. 355 of 8 September 2023
Consumer price index, August 2023
+6.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.3% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, August 2023
+6.4% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.4% 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 +6.1% in August 2023. In July 2023, the inflation rate was +6.2%. “The inflation rate therefore remains at a high level”, says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. She adds: “The increases in energy and food prices exceed overall inflation and keep the inflation rate high. The base effect stemming from last year’s 9-euro ticket was also apparent in August, when it drove inflation up and reduced the dampening effect of the Germany ticket on prices. This base effect will cease to apply from the next month onwards”. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in August 2023 rose by 0.3% on July 2023.
Prices of energy products up 8.3% year on year
Energy product prices in August 2023 were 8.3% higher than in the same month a year earlier, following a 5.7% increase in July 2023. Electricity, in particular, cost substantially more in August 2023 (+16.6%) year on year. From August 2022 to August 2023, motor fuel prices rose by 3.7% and natural gas prices by 2.2% compared with the same period a year earlier. Below-average price increases were also reported for district heating (+0.6%). Solid fuel prices went down as well (-6.1%), and heating oil prices, in particular, declined considerably (-28.1%).
Food prices remain driver of inflation: +9.0% from August 2022
Food prices were up 9.0% in August 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. Although the surge in food prices slowed somewhat (July 2023: +11.0%), price increases in many food groups remained markedly higher than overall inflation. In particular, consumers had to pay much more for sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+17.1%). There were also considerable year-on-year price increases for bread and cereals (+13.6%), vegetables (+12.4%) and fish, fish products and seafood (+11.5%). By contrast, edible fats and oils cost 13.9% less than a year earlier.
Inflation rate excluding energy and food at +5.5%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +5.9% in August 2023. When energy and food prices are excluded, the inflation rate was somewhat lower (+5.5%), which demonstrates the significant role food prices still play in overall inflation. This rate, which is often referred to as "core inflation", simultaneously demonstrates that inflation also remains high in other product groups. In July 2023, the consumer price index excluding food and energy had also stood at +5.5%.
Goods prices up 7.1% on August 2022
The prices of goods (total) were up 7.1% in August 2023 on the same month of the previous year. The price increase was particularly pronounced for non-durable consumer goods (+8.5%), which was mostly due to higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (+9.1% each). The prices of durable consumer goods rose by 4.7% compared with August 2022.
Service prices up 5.1% year on year, base effect of 9-euro ticket apparent for the last time
The prices of services (total) were up 5.1% in August 2023 on the same month of the previous year. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses had a dampening effect (+2.1%) and therefore were a significant contributor to the below-average increase in service prices. In addition, the introduction of the Germany ticket has had a slight downward effect on price developments since May 2023. Due to the availability of the 9-euro ticket from June to August 2022, there has, however, been an upward base effect since June 2023. August 2023 is the last month the impact of this base effect will be seen. Therefore, short-distance rail tickets cost much more in August 2023 (+64.6%) than in August 2022 despite the introduction of the Germany ticket. Combined tickets for rail, bus and the like were also markedly more expensive, more than doubling in price (+113.0%) from August 2022. In addition, the prices of several other services increased considerably, for instance maintenance and repair of dwellings (+12.9%), services of social facilities (+11.7%) and package holidays (10.7%).
Mineral oil prices up 4.8% month on month
Compared with July 2023, the consumer price index was up 0.3% in August 2023. Energy prices (total) rose by 2.1% from July 2023 to August 2023. Considerable price increases were recorded especially for mineral oil products (+4.8%, of which heating oil: +14.2% and motor fuels: +4.0%). Food prices (total) dropped slightly (-0.3%) compared with the previous month, with a particular decline registered for the prices of vegetables (-2.2%) and fruit (-1.0%).
Methodological notes:
The “Germany ticket” has been taken into account in the consumer price index since the start of May 2023. It resulted in price reductions in public regional and local passenger transport in May 2023. Compared with the introduction of the “9-euro ticket” for the months from June to August 2022, the impacts were considerably less pronounced. Nonetheless, it did have a slight dampening effect on prices particularly in the services product group. Although the Germany ticket continues to be available, service prices have increased sharply since June 2023, and year-on-year rates of price change in public regional and local passenger transport have also been very high since then. A major reason for this increase is the introduction of the 9-euro ticket one year ago (base effect), which is having an upward effect on the price development this year. In addition, the current results are impacted by other measures of the Federal Government's third relief package, which are aimed in particular at containing the increase in energy prices. For example, electricity, natural gas and district heating price caps were introduced in 2023, with retrospective effect from January 2023. The EEG surcharge was set to zero in July 2022. The abolishment had an impact on consumer prices and a slight dampening effect on the development of electricity prices between July 2022 and June 2023. This dampening effect ceased to apply in July 2023 because the EEG surcharge is no longer included in the previous year's prices. An overview explaining the relief measures and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
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 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.
Inflation Calculator for 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 | |||
| Overall index | 1.000,00 | 117.5 | 6.1 | 0.3 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 129.7 | 9.1 | -0.3 |
| Food | 104.69 | 130.7 | 9.0 | -0.3 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 129.2 | 5.7 | 0.5 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 113.4 | 7.2 | -1.0 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 125.1 | 12.4 | -2.2 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 118.9 | 9.1 | 0.6 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 103.6 | 3.5 | 1.7 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 115.0 | 4.6 | 0.3 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 105.8 | 2.2 | 0.3 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 105.0 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 155.9 | 11.4 | 0.6 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 136.1 | 16.6 | 0.4 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 196.3 | 2.2 | -0.7 |
| Heating oil 1 | 1.70 | 211.9 | -28.1 | 14.2 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 118.3 | 5.9 | 0.2 |
| Health | 55.49 | 105.2 | 3.1 | 0.1 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 125.3 | 7.5 | 0.8 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 149.9 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 147.5 | 7.8 | 3.1 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 156.7 | -7.6 | 7.8 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 100.0 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 117.2 | 6.1 | 0.3 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 145.6 | 10.7 | 1.7 |
| Education | 9.06 | 107.4 | 3.7 | -1.0 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 120.7 | 7.1 | 0.1 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 114.2 | 7.2 | 0.4 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 112.6 | 5.5 | 0.3 |
More information:
Detailed results 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 (61121-0006) in the GENESIS-Online database. Special items shown in Tables (61111-0006) and (61121-0006) contain CPI and HICP results which are used to measure "core inflation". 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 also 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 the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
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).
