Press release No. 224 of 13 June 2023
Consumer price index, May 2023
+6.1% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
-0.1% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)
Harmonised index of consumer prices, May 2023
+6.3% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
-0.2% 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), was +6.1% in May 2023. In both March and April 2023, the inflation rate stood at over 7% (March: +7.4%; April: +7.2 %). “The rate of inflation has continued to slow but remains at a high level nevertheless”, says Ruth Brand, President of the Federal Statistical Office. She adds: “The year-on-year increase in energy prices was much smaller in May, and food prices continued to be the biggest driver of inflation.” The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices in May 2023 fell by 0.1% on April 2023.
Prices of energy products up 2.6% year on year
Energy product prices were 2.6% higher in May 2023 than a year earlier. The increase in energy product prices therefore slowed notably (April 2023: +6.8%) and is meanwhile markedly lower than overall inflation. The fact that the increase in energy prices has been below average since March 2023 is mainly due to a base effect originating from last year's large price increases as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The development of energy prices is subject to many factors, for example the price decreases currently observed at upstream stages in the economic process. Measures of the Federal Government’s third relief package such as the brakes on electricity, natural gas and district heating prices also contributed to the slowing of the energy price increase.
Particularly high price rises were recorded for natural gas (+25.6%) and for firewood, wood pellets and other solid fuels (+23.8%) from May 2022 to May 2023. Above-average price increases were observed also for electricity (+12.7%) and district heating (+11.4%). The prices of these household energy products rose at a slightly slower pace, however. By contrast, the prices of mineral oil products declined substantially by 15.5%, with both heating oil (-30.5%) and motor fuels (-14.2%) costing less than a year earlier.
Food prices remain biggest driver of inflation: +14.9% from May 2022
Food prices were up by 14.9% in May 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. Although the increase in food prices slowed somewhat (April 2023: +17.2%), food prices remained by far the biggest driver of inflation among all product groups. There were year-on-year price increases mainly for dairy products (+28.2%), bread and cereals (+19.3%) as well as fish, fish products and seafood (+19.0%). Consumers still had to pay notably more also for other food products such as sugar, jam, honey and other confectionery (+17.9%) and vegetables (+17.3%). Edible fats and oils, by contrast, cost 7.1% less than a year earlier, which was mainly due to falling butter prices (-23.3%).
Inflation rate excluding energy and food at +5.4%
Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate stood at +6.5% in May 2023. When energy and food prices are excluded, the inflation rate was lower (+5.4%), which demonstrates the enormous impact of food prices on overall inflation. At the same time, this rate clearly shows that inflation is still high also in other product groups. The consumer price index excluding energy and food crossed the five-percent threshold already in December 2022 (+5.2%) and had gone up even further since the beginning of the year (April and March 2023: + 5.8% each). The figure increased slightly less in May than in the previous months.
Prices of goods up 7.7% on May 2022
The prices of goods (total) were up 7.7% in May 2023 on the same month of the previous year. The price increase was particularly pronounced for non-durable consumer goods (+9.1%), which was mostly due to the rise in food prices. The prices of durable consumer goods were 5.3% higher compared with May 2022.
4.5% increase in service prices year on year, Germany ticket has downward effect
The prices of services (total) increased by 4.5% in May 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier. In April 2023, the rate of price increase was +4.7%. Several factors influenced the below-average increase in the price of services, which slowed slightly. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses continue to play an important role, having a dampening effect on prices (+1.9%). In addition, the introduction of the Germany ticket had a slight downward effect on the development of prices in May 2023. Just like the 9-euro ticket in June, July and August 2022, the Germany ticket resulted in price changes in public passenger transport: at +0.6% in May 2023, price increases for short-distance rail tickets slowed considerably year on year (April 2023: +6.1%). Combined tickets for rail, bus and the like were down 22.9% on May 2022. By contrast, some prices for services continued to increase considerably, including prices for the maintenance and repair of dwellings (+15.8%) and prices for package holidays (+13.6%).
Month-on-month comparison: food and energy prices down, Germany ticket with additional dampening effect
Compared with April 2023, the consumer price index fell slightly by 0.1% in May 2023. Food prices dropped slightly (-0.3%) compared with the previous month, with a particular decline registered for the price of fresh vegetables (-6.1%). The decrease in the prices of energy (total) was somewhat more pronounced (-1.4%). Decreases were observed particularly in the prices of heating oil (-9.3%) and motor fuel (-2.6%) compared with the previous month. Compared with April 2023, prices in public passenger transport also eased as a result of the introduction of the Germany ticket: prices of transport association tickets were markedly down (-26.6%) and the prices of short-distance rail tickets fell by 5.2%. By contrast, price increases were recorded particularly for package holidays (+2.6%) and overnight stays (+1.9%).
Methodological notes:
The “Germany ticket” has been available for use since the start of May 2023. The inclusion of the ticket resulted in price reductions in public regional and short-distance passenger transport. Compared with the introduction of the “9-euro ticket” in 2022 for a limited three-month period, the impacts were considerably less pronounced. Nonetheless, it did have a slight dampening effect on prices particularly in the services product group.
In addition, the current results are impacted mainly by the 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. An overview explaining the different 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 | |||
| 1: Results do not include operating costs. | ||||
| Overall index | 1,000.00 | 116.5 | 6.1 | -0.1 |
| Food and non-alcoholic-beverages | 119.04 | 130.5 | 14.5 | -0.2 |
| Food | 104.69 | 131.7 | 14.9 | -0.3 |
| Meat and meat products | 22.16 | 127.1 | 6.6 | 0.8 |
| Fruit | 11.62 | 113.7 | 7.2 | 1.1 |
| Vegetables | 13.72 | 133.4 | 17.3 | -4.4 |
| Alcoholic beverages and tobacco | 35.26 | 116.8 | 9.2 | 0.6 |
| Clothing and footwear | 42.25 | 108.2 | 4.7 | 0.2 |
| Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels | 259.25 | 114.5 | 5.6 | 0.0 |
| Actual net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 68.30 | 105.2 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| Imputed net rent exclusive of heating expenses | 104.13 | 104.4 | 1.9 | 0.1 |
| Household energy | 43.44 | 156.2 | 17.4 | -0.6 |
| Electricity | 24.50 | 137.8 | 12.7 | -0.5 |
| Gas 1 | 6.07 | 201.6 | 25.6 | -0.7 |
| Heating oil 1 | 1.70 | 181.0 | -30.5 | -9.3 |
| Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment | 67.78 | 117.3 | 7.0 | -0.2 |
| Health | 55.49 | 104.8 | 3.3 | 0.2 |
| Transport | 138.22 | 122.5 | -0.2 | -1.7 |
| Motor fuels | 30.46 | 143.1 | -14.2 | -2.6 |
| Supergrade petrol | 23.19 | 142.6 | -12.0 | -1.7 |
| Diesel fuel | 6.92 | 142.7 | -21.3 | -5.6 |
| Communication | 23.35 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Recreation and culture | 104.23 | 113.6 | 6.8 | 0.7 |
| Package holidays | 13.22 | 121.4 | 13.6 | 2.6 |
| Education | 9.06 | 108.4 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
| Restaurant and accommodation services | 47.20 | 119.2 | 9.3 | 0.8 |
| Miscellaneous goods and services | 98.87 | 112.3 | 6.5 | 0.4 |
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. 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 on 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).
