Press release No. 436 of 20 November 2024
Producer prices of industrial products (domestic sales), October 2024
-1.1% on the same month a year earlier
+0.2% on the previous month
WIESBADEN – The producer prices of industrial products were 1.1% lower in October 2024 than in October 2023. In September 2024, the year-on-year change rate stood at -1.4%. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that producer prices in October 2024 were up 0.2% on September 2024.
In October 2024, lower energy prices continued to be the main reason for the year-on-year decline in producer prices, while higher prices had to be paid for capital, consumer and intermediate goods.
Sharp declines in the prices of natural gas (distribution) and electricity
Energy prices in October 2024 were 5.6% lower than in October 2023. Compared with September 2024, however, energy prices rose by 0.6%. Lower prices for mineral oil products had the biggest influence on the year-on-year rate of change for energy. Mineral oil product prices dropped by 12.9% from October 2023, and increased by 0.9% compared with September 2024. Heating oil was 22.7% less expensive than in October 2023 (+4.9% on September 2024). Motor fuels oil cost 12.1% less than a year earlier (+1.9% on September 2024).
Across all customer groups, natural gas prices declined by 10.1% from October 2023 and were up 1.1% on September 2024. In October 2024, electricity cost 7.3% less than in October 2023 but was 0.5% more expensive than in September 2024, across all consumer groups.
When energy prices are excluded, producer prices in October 2024 were up 1.3% from the same month of the previous year and remained unchanged compared with September 2024 (0.0%).
Slight price increase for intermediate goods
Intermediate goods prices were 0.4% higher in October 2024 than a year earlier. Compared with the previous month, they were down 0.3%.
Price increases compared with October 2023 were observed, for example, for electric transformers (+5.5%), stone, gravel, sand, clay and kaolin (+4.6%), plaster products for construction purposes (+3.7%) and wiring and wiring devices (+1.7%).
Wood and products of wood and cork were 0.6% more expensive than in October 2023. Coniferous timber prices rose by 13.9% compared with October 2023. Particle boards cost 5.0% less than in the same month of the previous year. The year-on-year prices of fibre boards decreased by 2.4%, those of non-coniferous timber fell by 6.9%.
Metals cost 0.4% less in October 2024 than a year earlier. The prices of basic iron, steel and ferro-alloys were significantly lower (-7.7%) than in the same month a year earlier. Bar steel was 5.4% less expensive year on year. By contrast, the prices of copper and semi-finished copper products rose by 9.8% on October 2023.
Basic chemicals (total) cost 1.6% less than in the same month of the previous year. Prepared feeds for farm animals were 2.8% less expensive and the prices of glass and glass products were down 4.6% compared with the same month a year earlier.
Price increases for capital goods, non-durable and durable consumer goods
Capital goods prices in October 2024 rose by 2.0% year on year (+0.2% on September 2024). Machinery cost 2.0% more than in October 2023. The prices of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers increased by 1.4% from October 2023.
Non-durable consumer goods cost 1.9% more in October 2024 than in October 2023 (+0.2% on September 2024). Food prices were up 2.1% on October 2023. Compared with the same month of the previous year, butter prices were much higher (+52.9%; +6.0% on September 2024), and confectionery also cost considerably more (+20.1%). Coffee was 7.1% more expensive than in October 2023. By contrast, lower year-on-year prices were recorded in October 2024 for cereal flours (-10.7%) and pork (-5.4%), in particular.
Durable consumer goods cost 0.9% more in October 2024 than a year earlier (+0.2% on September 2024).
Rebasing the producer price index for industrial products
The producer price index for industrial products was rebased to 2021 as of reference month January 2024. As a general rule, the base year is changed every five years. The recalculation of the producer price index relies on a weighting scheme that is based on the domestic sales of industrial products in 2021 and is used for weighting the subindices in the calculation of the overall index.
When the base year was changed, all indices as of January 2021 were recalculated, taking account of the new weighting scheme. The price indices determined using the old base of 2015 are therefore no longer valid. More information on the rebasing of the producer price index for industrial products (only in German) is available in the Revisionen in der Preisstatistik” (only in German) section on the "Preisstatistik im Überblick” (only in German) page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website.
Methodological notes:
The producer price index for industrial products measures the development of prices for products produced and sold in Germany by the mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and energy and water supply sectors. All charges and taxes on goods are included, except value-added tax. The index therefore reflects price developments at an early stage of the economic process. The 15th of each reference month is the survey reference date.
More information:
The statistical report (only in German) on producer price indices of industrial products (domestic sales) also includes the latest results. Long time series for the overall index are also available in the table on producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0002) and for sub-indices in the table on producer price indices for industrial products (61241-0004) in the GENESIS-Online database.
Information on CO₂ pricing under the Fuel Emission Allowance Trading Act is provided on the "Producer price index for industrial products" page.
Producer prices of industrial products are also available on Dashboard Germany at 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 (only in German) tool 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 available as the main interface version 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.
