Inflation in Germany eased in January, with a significantly milder increase in food prices, preliminary calculations by the statistical office showed today. In January, prices were 2.3 percent higher than in the same month last year, Destatis calculated.

In December, they were up by 2.6 percent. A month-on-month comparison shows a steady decline in prices in January, by 0.2 percent. Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate in the first month of 2025 stood at 2.9 percent and was 0.4 percentage points lower than in December.

The slower pace of price growth in January primarily reflects a noticeably milder increase in food prices, by only 0.8 percent compared with the beginning of last year. In December, they had risen by 2.0 percent. Other goods also became more expensive at a slower pace, by 0.9 percent.

Services rose the most

At the end of last year, prices in that product category had risen by 1.4 percent. Services also rose the most at the beginning of the new year, by four percent, roughly the same as in December. Energy, meanwhile, became cheaper by 1.6 percent in January as well.

According to the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP), which allows comparison among EU countries, prices in Europe's largest economy were 2.8 percent higher in January than at the beginning of last year, the same as in December. On a monthly basis, they decreased by 0.2 percent, after having risen by 0.7 percent in December.

Source: index.hr