German Inflation Rose at Fastest Pace in Almost 30 Years in 2021
January 19 2022 - 2:38AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Martinez
German consumer prices rose strongly in 2021, posting their
highest annual reading since 1993, statistics office Destatis said
Wednesday.
Consumer prices in Germany rose 3.1% on average in 2021 compared
with 2020. The inflation rate in the previous year was 0.5%.
The increase in the inflation rate was caused mainly by base
effects due to lower prices in 2020, Georg Thiel, president of the
federal statistical office, said. In this context, the temporary
reduction in the value added tax and the sharp decline in
mineral-oil product prices also had an upward effect on the overall
inflation rate, Mr. Thiel said.
"In addition to the temporary base effects of the past, there
are more and more crisis-related effects such as delivery
bottlenecks and marked price increases at upstream stages in the
economic process," Mr. Thiel said.
In December, consumer prices rose 5.3% on year measured by
national standards, reaching its highest level in 2021 at the end
of the year, in line with forecast by economists polled by The Wall
Street Journal. They rose 5.7% on year by European Union-harmonized
standards, also in line with forecasts.
Consumer prices rose 0.5% on month by national standards and
0.3% by EU-harmonized standards, both in line with forecasts.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 19, 2022 03:23 ET (08:23 GMT)
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