Press release No. 423 of 12 November 2024
Consumer price index, October 2024
+2.0% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.4% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, October 2024
+2.4% 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 +2.0% in October 2024. This means that the inflation rate rose again, after having fallen below two percent in September 2024 (+1.6%) and in August 2024 (+1.9%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that inflation in October 2024 was particularly fuelled by the rise in food prices and ongoing above-average price increases for services. By contrast, the development of energy prices again had a dampening effect on the inflation rate in October 2024, but the effect was less pronounced than in the previous months. Compared with September 2024, consumer prices rose by 0.4% in October 2024.
Food prices up 2.3% on October 2023
Food prices (only in German) were 2.3% higher in October 2024 than in the same month a year earlier. The rise in food prices therefore accelerated year on year, following increases of 1.6% in September 2024 and 1.5% in August 2024. Compared with October 2023, notable price increases were recorded in October 2024 for edible fats and oils (+21.3%, including butter (only in German): +39.7% and olive oil (only in German): +28.1%). In October 2024, consumers also had to pay more than a year earlier for other food groups such as fruit (+4.2%) sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+3.6%) and vegetables (+3.2%).
Energy product prices fell by 5.5% compared with October 2023
Registering a decrease of 5.5%, energy product prices in October 2024 were significantly lower than in the same month a year earlier. Following a drop of 7.6% in September 2024, the decline in prices has therefore slowed. In October 2024, the prices of motor fuels (-8.9%) and household energy (-3.2%) were down year on year. With regard to household energy, consumers particularly benefited from lower prices for heating oil (-13.4%) and firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels (only in German) (-12.7%). Electricity (-5.5%) and natural gas prices (-0.8%) were also down from October 2023. By contrast, district heating was still considerably more expensive (+31.7%) than a year earlier.
Inflation rate excluding food and energy at +2.9%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +3.0% in October 2024. The inflation rate excluding food and energy, often referred to as core inflation, was somewhat lower in October 2024, at +2.9%. Both rates have notably exceeded overall inflation since January 2024, thereby demonstrating that inflation was above average in other important product groups.
Goods prices up 0.4% on October 2023
The prices of goods (total) were up 0.4% in October 2024 compared with October 2023. The price increase observed for non-durable consumer goods (+0.5%) was slightly larger than for durable consumer goods (+0.2%). Aside from the rise in food prices (+2.3%), individual products were markedly more expensive, particularly non-alcoholic beverages (+6.8%) and tobacco products (+6.6%). By contrast, lower prices were recorded not only for energy (-5.5%) but also for furniture and lighting equipment (-1.2%), for example.
Service prices saw above-average increase of 4.0% year on year
Compared with the same month of the previous year, the prices of services (total) were up 4.0% in October 2024, thereby remaining at a markedly higher level than overall inflation. The rise in service prices even accelerated in October 2024. In September 2024, the year-on-year rate of increase in service prices was +3.8%. In the period from October 2023 to October 2024, prices were up, in particular, for insurance services (+15.2%, including transport insurance: (only in German) +31.9%), services of social facilities (only in German) (+7.9%) and catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+6.8%). Other notable price rises were observed, for instance, for package holidays (+5.8%), the maintenance and repair of vehicles (+5.4%), and water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling (+4.7%). Net rents exclusive of heating expenses also continue to be a major factor contributing to the development of service prices. At +2.1%, the rate of price increase slightly exceeded the inflation rate. By contrast, only few services cost less than in the same month a year earlier, for example telecommunications services (-0.8 %).
Prices of mineral oil products increased by 1.6%, food prices rose by 0.8% month on month
Compared with September 2024, the consumer price index increased by 0.4% in October 2024. The prices of energy (total) rose by 0.4%, mineral oil products were more expensive (+1.6%, including heating oil: +5.6%; motor fuels: +1.3%). Food (total) also cost more than in the previous month (+0.8%). One noticeable aspect was the renewed price increase for butter (only in German) (+9.9% compared with September 2024), which contrasted with a sharp decline in sugar prices (only in German) (-19.9% compared with September 2024). Higher prices were also recorded especially for vegetables (+2.1%) and fruit (+1.8%). Clothing prices also increased (+1.5%), for example, whereas the prices of package holidays decreased (-1.9%) in October 2024.
Methodological notes:
An overview explaining the different measures of the Federal Government and their impact on the consumer price index is available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.
In the Euro area, the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) is used for the purposes of monetary policy. Apart from the individual purposes they serve, the consumer price index (CPI) and the HICP differ in terms of coverage, methodology and weighting. This explains the differences between the CPI and the HICP for Germany. In contrast to the HICP, the CPI also includes household expenditure on owner-occupied housing, games of chance and broadcasting fees. In addition, the HICP product weights are updated annually. Explanatory notes on this matter are available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office together with the HICP results and a methodological paper on the HICP.
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 | Change on same period of previous year | Change on the previous month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
in per mill | % | |||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 120.2 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 134.1 | 2.8 | 0.8 |
| Food | 104.69 | 134.3 | 2.3 | 0.8 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 129.3 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 121.3 | 4.2 | 1.8 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 128.9 | 3.2 | 2.1 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 124.1 | 4.3 | 1.1 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 112.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 116.3 | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 108.4 | 2.3 | 0.2 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 107.4 | 2.0 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 149.2 | -3.2 | -0.1 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 126.5 | -5.5 | -0.2 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 189.9 | -0.8 | -0.2 |
| Healting oil 1 | 1.70 | 194.8 | -13.4 | 5.6 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 117.3 | -1.0 | 0.2 |
| Health | 55.49 | 108.2 | 2.7 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 124.9 | -0.3 | 1.0 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 135.6 | -8.9 | 1.3 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 133.5 | -7.7 | 1.1 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 140.8 | -13.1 | 1.7 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 98.5 | -1.6 | -0.3 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 117.8 | 1.8 | 0.0 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 139.7 | 5.8 | -1.9 |
| Education | 9.06 | 116.2 | 5.2 | 0.3 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 128.4 | 6.1 | 0.0 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 122.4 | 6.9 | 0.6 |
| Overall index, excluding food and energy 2 | 821.41 | 116.3 | 2.9 | 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.
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, has released provisional results on Euro area inflation for October 2024 (available on Eurostat’s website under News > Euro indicators).
Consumer price index results are also available on Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, the labour market, construction, housing, energy and Ukraine. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (Pulsmesser Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.
Important information regarding the GENESIS-Online database:
After leaving the beta phase, our database's new user interface has been online since 5 November 2024. The new interface offers faster data retrieval and intuitive table search and customisation options. There have also been changes to the structure of the machine-readable flat file (CSV) format and the data output format for table downloads. For further details and other important information on the release, please see the info page of the new GENESIS-Online database.
