Consumer prices attract
Energy prices hardly drop anymore – food becomes more expensive
For the first time this year, the inflation rate is going up again. Especially when buying food, consumers notice rising prices. In the next few months it could go on similarly.
Coffee, chocolate, fruit-rising prices for many foods have once again driven the inflation in Germany through the two percent mark. In August, consumer prices were 2.2 percent above the level of the previous year, as the Federal Statistical Office confirmed. For June and July, the Wiesbaden statisticians calculated an inflation rate of 2.0 percent each.
“The inflation rate increased slightly for the first time this year,” the President of the Federal Statistical Office, Ruth Brand. According to economists, people in this country will also have to adjust to inflation rates over the two percent brand for the coming months. From July to August 2025, prices attracted 0.1 percent. An inflation rate of around two percent is expected for the year as a whole.
Does the inflation set itself again over the two percent mark?
The higher the inflation rate, the lower the people’s purchasing power: they can then afford less for one euro. The large wave of inflation has expired for the time being, which Germany had hit against Ukraine after the beginning of the Russian attack war. But inflation is more stubborn than expected: the core inflation without the prices for food and energy that is prone to fluctuations has been 2.7 percent in Germany for three months.
Coffee and chocolate are more expensive
In August, people in Germany had to pay 2.5 percent more than a year earlier. Above average, coffee (plus 22.8 percent) and chocolate (plus 21.3 percent) were above average. Prices for fruit (plus 7.1 percent) also attracted, while vegetables were cheaper than a year earlier (minus 1.1 percent). Consumers for potatoes (minus 17.3 percent) and sugar (minus 29.2 percent) had to pay significantly fewer.
As in July, prices for services rose by 3.1 percent. The fact that people transport (plus 11.1 percent) and insurance (plus 6.4 percent) have become more expensive has to do with higher wage costs, which the providers attach to their prices. International flights, on the other hand, cost 8.2 percent less in the summer month of August than a year ago.
Price decline in energy flies out
According to the Federal Office’s calculations, energy was 2.4 percent cheaper than a year earlier. However, the energy prices had dropped much more clearly in August 2024. In the year comparison, this therefore acts like a price increase – a basic effect that drives the inflation rate up.
dpa
Source: Stern
