Press Inflation rate at +7.3% in March 2022

Energy price jump leads to highest inflation ratein reunited Germany

Press release No. 160 of 12 April 2022

Consumer price index, March 2022
+7.3% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+2.5% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)

Harmonised index of consumer prices, March 2022
+7.6% on the same month a year earlier (provisional result confirmed)
+2.5% on the previous month (provisional result confirmed)

WIESBADEN − The inflation rate in Germany, measured as the year-on-year change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at +7.3% in March 2022. In February 2022, it had been +5.1%. Inflation in March 2022 thus reached its highest level since German reunification. Similarly high inflation rates in the former territory of the Federal Republic were last recorded in autumn 1981 when mineral oil prices had markedly increased as a result of the first Gulf war between Iraq and Iran. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that consumer prices jumped by 2.5% from February 2022.

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Ukraine war affects inflation rate

Delivery bottlenecks and significant price increases at upstream stages in the economic process had an impact on the inflation rate. Price increases were recorded especially for energy products, but also for other goods and services, as a result of the current crises. ”In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian war against Ukraine now also has a marked impact on the rate of price increase in Germany, especially for heating oil, motor fuels and natural gas as well as some food products”, said Dr. Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office.

Energy prices up 39.5% year on year

The prices of goods (total) rose by 12.3% from March 2021 to March 2022. Especially the prices of energy products rose sharply: in March 2022 they exceeded the level of the same month of the previous year by 39.5% (February 2022: +22.5%). The prices of heating oil more than doubled (+144.0%). Motor fuel prices (+47.4%) and  natural gas prices (+41.8%) rose substantially. The price increases for the other energy products markedly exceeded the overall inflation rate, too, for example the prices of solid fuels (+19.3%) and for electricity (+17.7%). The price increase for energy products was due to several factors: In addition to crisis-related effects, the increase in the CO2 charge from 25 euros to 30 euros per tonne of CO2 had an impact here.

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6.2% increase in food prices year on year

Food prices were up 6.2% in March 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year. The price increase thus accelerated also for this product group (February 2022: +5.3%). Consumers had to pay more especially for edible fats and oils (+17.2%, including sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and the like: +30.0%) and for fresh vegetables (+14.8%). Considerable price rises were also recorded, in addition to energy and food, for coffee products (+8.9%) and vehicles (+8.2%, including second-hand passenger cars: +23.9%). The prices of non-durable consumer goods (total) increased by 16.7% and those of durable consumer goods by 4.3%.

Inflation rate excluding energy at +3.6%

To what extent energy prices affect the overall rate of price increase is shown by the inflation rate when energy is excluded: it stood at +3.6% in March 2022. Not considering energy and food prices, the inflation rate was +3.4%.

Service prices up 2.8% year on year

In March 2022, the prices of services (total) increased by 2.8% year on year and thus remained below overall inflation. Net rents exclusive of heating expenses, which are important as they account for a large part of household consumption expenditure, rose by 1.6% and thus had a downward effect on the overall inflation rate. Price decreases were also observed for telecommunications (-1.1%) and for services of social facilities (-2.6%), the latter being due to the implementation of the long-term care reform adopted in June 2021. However, the prices of some services were markedly up, including maintenance and repair of dwellings and residential buildings (+10.3%) and of vehicles (+5.3%).

Month-on-month price increase of 2.5%, mainly due to the massive rise in energy prices

Compared with February 2022, the consumer price index jumped by 2.5% in March 2022, which was mainly due to the massive increase in energy prices by 16.4%.

Consumers paid more especially for heating oil (+69.7%) and motor fuels (+22.9%). The price increases for the other energy products were marked, too, for example for natural gas (+4.7%) and for electricity (+4.2%).

The increase in food prices (total) was relatively small in March 2022 (+0.8%). A considerable price increase was observed for clothing (+5.1%), which was mainly due to seasonal factors.

Methodological notes:

Only some prices could not be recorded in the monthly price collection due to the measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. More information is contained in a methodological paper.The quality requirements have been met.Where quality reductions were observed for specific product groups, the relevant results have been marked accordingly. Especially the year-on-year rates of change are affected at present.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences for public life also require a changed approach to the annual updating of the product weights used in the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). Another methodological paper which discusses this issue is provided on the website of the Federal Statistical Office. The updating of the HICP product weights explains a considerable part of the difference between the CPI and the HICP for Germany.

Consumer price index for Germany March 2022
Overall index / subindexWeightingChange on
the same
period a
year earlier
Change on
the preceding
month
in per millin per cent

1: Results do not include charges.

( ) Limited informational value due to somewhat limited statistical reliability as imputation rates are high (over 50%).

Overall index1,000.007.32.5
Food and non-alcoholic-beverages96.855.90.8
Food84.876.20.8
Meat and meat products18.605.11.3
Fruit8.882.30.6
Vegetables11.0812.40.0
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco37.774.00.5
Clothing and footwear45.342.04.5
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels324.708.83.1
Net rent exclusive of heating expenses196.321.60.2
Household energy68.8235.312.8
Electricity25.9217.74.2
Gas 113.5341.84.7
Heating oil 17.01144.069.7
Furniture, lighting equipment, appliances and other household equipment50.044.70.5
Health46.130.90.4
Transport129.0517.57.4
Motor fuels35.0147.422.9
Supergrade petrol25.6641.920.4
Diesel fuel8.6462.630.8
Communication26.72-0.1-0.1
Recreation and culture113.365.00.8
Package holidays26.62(11.2)3.7
Education9.021.50.1
Restaurant and accommodation services46.77(5.6)0.5
Miscellaneous goods and services74.252.00.4
Overall index 
Excluding food and energy811.303.40.6
Excluding energy (household energy and motor fuels)896.173.60.6
Excluding heating oil and motor fuels957.984.70.9
Goods468.1612.34.8
Non-durable consumer goods297.5416.76.5
Energy103.8339.516.4
Services531.842.80.4

More information:

Using our Personal Inflation Calculator, you may compare the official inflation rate with your personal one by modifying the monthly expenditure on some products so that these correspond better to your own consumer habits.

The consumer price index results are available on the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona) of the Federal Statistical Office and in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de), together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dashboard Germany portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators of official statistics and indicators of other data providers on the topics of economy and finance as well as health and mobility.

The CPI also forms part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the Covid-19 crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009.

The Russian attack on Ukraine and the relevant sanctions against Russia have had a strong impact on the economy and population and in particular on the energy sector. Data and information on the areas affected are provided on a special webpage (www.destatis.de/ukraine).

More information on consumer price statistics is contained in Fachserie 17, Reihe 7 "Verbraucherpreise für Deutschland". Detailed results can also be found in the tables on the consumer price index (61111-0004) and (61111-0006) and on the harmonised index of consumer prices (61121-0002) and (61121-0004) in the GENESIS-Online database.

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