Consumer prices in Germany rose for the first time in seven months

Consumer prices in Germany rose this month, for the first time in seven months, helped by a renewed increase in value added tax and an increase in the minimum wage since January. This was pointed out by the German statistical office Destatis, which published a preliminary estimate. According to Destatis, consumer prices rose by 1% year on year in January. In December, they recorded a decrease of 0.3%. The preliminary estimate also exceeded the expectations of analysts, who expected consumer prices to grow by 0.7%. Harmonized consumer prices increased by 1.6% year-on-year after a 0.7% decline in the last month of last year. Even in this case, the data exceeded the estimates of analysts, who expected a harmonized inflation rate of 0.5%. Until now, consumer prices have been in negative territory since June last year, until August, when they recorded zero growth, and July, when zero growth was recorded in harmonized consumer prices. Food prices accelerated their growth rate in January, while the decline in energy prices slowed down. Food prices rose by 2.2% year on year after rising by 0.5% in December. Energy prices fell by 2.3% in January, while in December the decline was 6%.