The Federal Statistical Office confirms its first estimate: According to this, inflation in Germany will rise again slightly in January. According to the experts, this is likely due to the expiry of state aid measures. The main drivers are still energy prices, but services are also significantly more expensive.
The rise in consumer prices in Germany accelerated slightly in January. The inflation rate was 8.7 percent compared to the previous year, as confirmed by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. In December, inflation was 8.6 percent.
There were price increases for many goods and increasingly also for services. "The rising prices for energy and food were particularly noticeable for private households in January," explained Ruth Brand, President of the Statistics Office.
Despite the government's relief measures, the prices for energy products were 23.1 percent above the level of the same month last year. The statisticians explained that the reason for the price increase in January 2023 is likely to be the loss of the December emergency aid from the government.
Specifically, the prices for natural gas rose by 51.8 percent and for district heating by 26.0 percent. The prices for firewood or wood pellets even increased by 49.6 percent. The prices for light heating oil were 30.6 percent higher than in January 2022. Electricity rose by 25.7 percent despite the electricity price brake and the elimination of the EEG surcharge. Petrol and diesel at the filling station only increased by 7.0 percent.
According to the statisticians, food prices also have a strong influence on the inflation rate. Excluding energy and food, the inflation rate was 5.6 percent.
The prices for services rose by 4.5 percent in January - including those for net rent by 2.0 percent. The prices for the maintenance and repair of apartments, for example, increased by 16.9 percent and restaurant services by 10.9 percent. According to the statistics, only very few services such as telecommunications services became cheaper by 1.1 percent.
The consumer price index for Germany is converted to a new base year at regular intervals - with the results for January 2023, the conversion from the previous base 2015 to the base year 2020 took place, as the statistical office announced. The weighting schemes, for example, were updated and methodological changes were incorporated.
