Press release No. 482 of 13 October 2021
Consumer price index, September 2021
+4.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.0% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, September 2021
+4.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+0.3% 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 +4.1% in September 2021. In July and August 2021 it had been just under 4%. A higher inflation rate was last measured in December 1993 (+4.3%). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices remained unchanged compared with August 2021 though.
Temporary special effects continuing to have an upward effect on the inflation rate
There are various reasons for the high inflation rate, which include base effects due to the low prices in 2020. Especially the temporary value added tax reduction in the second half of 2020 and the sharp decline in mineral oil product prices a year ago had an upward effect on the overall inflation rate. Additional factors were crisis-related effects such as marked price increases at upstream stages in the economic process. So far, only some of these price increases have had a moderate impact on the consumer price index.
Substantial increase in energy prices of 14.3% compared with a year earlier
The prices of goods (total) increased by 6.1% between September 2020 and September 2021, which was above average. Especially the increase in energy product prices (+14.3%) was markedly higher than overall inflation. "The relevant rate of price increase was up for the third month in a row. This was basically due to base effects as we compare current prices with the very low prices of the previous year. Especially the CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of the year had an upward effect on the rate of price increase regarding energy products”, said Christoph-Martin Mai, Head of the Consumer Prices Section at the Federal Statistical Office. Marked price increases were recorded for heating oil (+76,5%) and motor fuels (+28.4%). The prices of natural gas (+5.7%) and electricity (+2.0%) rose, too.
Above-average 4.9% increase in food prices compared with a year earlier
Above-average year-on-year price increases were recorded in September 2021 not only for energy products but also for food (+4.9%). Prices were markedly up on September 2020 for vegetables (+9.2%) as well as dairy products and eggs (+5.5%). In addition to non-durable consumer goods, consumer durables such as transport equipment (+6.4%) and furniture and lighting equipment (+4.4%) saw significant price increases.
Inflation rate excluding energy at +3.1%
The year-on-year increases in energy product prices and food prices had a clear upward effect on the inflation rate. Excluding energy product prices, the inflation rate would have been +3.1% in September 2021; excluding the prices of both product groups, it would have been +2.9%.
Service prices up 2.5% year on year
The prices of services (total) increased by 2.5% in September 2021 compared with the same month a year earlier. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household final consumption expenditure, rose by 1.4%. Larger price increases were observed, among other things, for maintenance and repair of vehicles (+5.4%), services of social facilities (+5.0%) and for catering services in restaurants, cafés and the like (+3.6%).
On the whole, stable prices compared with the previous month
Compared with August 2021, the consumer price index remained stable in September 2021. The prices of food (total), too, remained unchanged. Prices of energy products (total) rose 0.7% on the previous month, which included marked price increases for heating oil (+4.4%). The prices of clothing and footwear were up, too (+3.8%), which was mainly due to the changeover to the autumn/winter collection. Due to seasonal factors, package holiday prices fell markedly (-9.2%) towards the end of the summer holidays.
Methodological note:
The situation of price collection caused by the corona crisis was relaxed again in September 2021. For information on the consequences of the lockdown for price collection please refer to our methodological paper on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on price collection. The quality of the results of consumer price statistics remains unaffected.
For more background information and analyses regarding the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for price development please refer to our “StatGespräch” podcast on inflation (in German). Here we shed light on the role of base effects and the future of price collection.
The coronavirus pandemic, the associated restrictions on public life and the resulting consequences required a changed approach to the annual updating of the product weights used in the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). A methodological paper which discusses this issue is provided on the webpage of the Federal Statistical Office. The updating of the HICP product weights explains a considerable part of the difference between the CPI and the HICP for Germany.
The consumer price index results are also available on the Corona Statistics webpage of the Federal Statistical Office together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between coronavirus crisis and financial and economic crisis
The consumer price index also forms part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the corona crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The Crisis Monitor complements the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona), which provides statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
| Overall index / subindex | Weighting | Index 2015 = 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 charges. ( ) Limited informational value due to somewhat limited statistical reliability as imputation rates are high (over 50%). | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 110.1 | 4.1 | 0.0 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 96.85 | 113.3 | 4.8 | 0.0 |
| Food | 84.87 | 114.1 | 4.9 | 0.0 |
| Meat and meat products | 18.60 | 118.1 | 4.0 | 0.1 |
| Fruit | 8.88 | 115.4 | 1.8 | -0.3 |
| Vegetables | 11.08 | 112.6 | 9.2 | -0.7 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 37.77 | 117.3 | 2.4 | 0.1 |
| Clothing and footwear | 45.34 | 105.5 | 2.3 | 3.8 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 324.70 | 108.3 | 2.9 | 0.3 |
| Net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 196.32 | 108.8 | 1.4 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 68.82 | 105.0 | 7.5 | 0.8 |
| Electricity | 25.92 | 111.5 | 2.0 | 0.2 |
| Gas 1 | 13.53 | 100.5 | 5.7 | 0.5 |
| Heating oil 1 | 7.01 | 123.2 | 76.5 | 4.4 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 50.04 | 105.7 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Health | 46.13 | 106.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 129.05 | 114.8 | 10.8 | -0.2 |
| Motor fuels | 35.01 | 118.1 | 28.4 | 0.4 |
| Supergrade petrol | 25.66 | 117.1 | 27.0 | 0.3 |
| Diesel fuel | 8.64 | 121.1 | 32.5 | 0.7 |
| Communication | 26.72 | 94.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| Recreation and culture | 113.36 | 110.9 | 3.7 | -2.1 |
| Package holidays | 26.62 | 117.6 | (3.4) | -9.2 |
| Education | 9.02 | 104.7 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 46.77 | 116.1 | 3.5 | -0.2 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 74.25 | 112.2 | 3.9 | 0.3 |
| Overall index | ||||
| Excluding food and energy | 811.30 | 109.8 | 2.9 | -0.1 |
| Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels) | 896.17 | 110.2 | 3.1 | -0.1 |
| Excluding heating oil and motor fuels | 957.98 | 109.8 | 3.1 | 0.0 |
| Goods | 468.16 | 109.5 | 6.1 | 0.7 |
| Non-durable consumer goods | 297.54 | 111.7 | 7.3 | 0.3 |
| Energy | 103.83 | 109.5 | 14.3 | 0.7 |
| Services | 531.84 | 110.7 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
More information on consumer price statistics is contained in Fachserie 17, Reihe 7 "Verbraucherpreise für Deutschland". Detailed data of consumer price statistics 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 (61121-0004) in the GENESIS-Online database.
