Germany Producer Prices Change

Producer prices in Germany dropped by 2.9% year-on-year in March 2024, following a 4.1% fall in the previous month. It marked the ninth consecutive month of producer deflation but the smallest decline since July, driven by a fall in energy costs (-7.0%), influenced by natural gas (-15.4%), electricity (-12.6%), and mineral oil products (-1.0%). Meanwhile, prices of intermediate goods shrank by 3.7%, dragged down by metals (-6.6%) and basic chemicals (-9.0%). Conversely, prices of non-durable consumer goods rose by 0.3%, while those of durable consumer goods increased by 1.0%. Also, prices of capital goods climbed 2.8%, mainly boosted by advances in machinery prices (3.0%) and the prices of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers (2.2%). On a monthly basis, producer prices were up by 0.2% after a 0.4% decline in February, compared to forecasts of a flat reading.