German consumer price index rises in June on higher package holiday prices

German headline inflation rose in June. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that the consumer prices came in at 1.6 percent in June on a year-on-year basis, as compared with the 1.4 percent seen in May. On a sequential basis, the consumer price index rose 0.3 percent.

Energy product prices rose 2.5 percent year-on-year. Thus, the rise in energy prices was smaller, coming in at 4.2 percent. Motor fuel prices rose 1.2 percent, whereas heating oil prices dropped markedly. Excluding energy prices, inflation rate came in at 1.6 percent.

The higher rate of inflation in June was mainly due to package holiday prices rising again, which rose 6.1 percent, as compared with fall of 9 percent in the prior month. The main reason is the calendar effect as Whitsun dropped late this year.

Food prices rose below average from June 2018 to June 2019. Nevertheless, the price rise accelerated a bit on the previous month. Vegetable prices rose markedly on a year-on-year in June. Meanwhile, prices of goods rose 1.5 percent year-on-year. Moreover, the price rises for energy products and food, higher price rises were seen for some other products. Nevertheless, prices dropped for some goods such as telephones and consumer electronics.

Meanwhile, prices of services rose strongly by 1.9 percent year-on-year in June. Apart from the price rise for package holidays, prices rose markedly also for services of social facilities, maintenance and repair of vehicles and rail tickets. The rise in net rents exclusive of heating expenses also contributed to the rise in service prices. On the contrary, pre-primary education services recorded a large price decrease, owing to the reduction of childcare costs.

Sequentially, the consumer price index rose 0.3 percent in the month. Price of package holidays rose 18.6 percent. Food prices stayed almost the same at 0.1 percent sequentially, whereas prices of energy were down 1.1 percent. Clothing and footwear prices dropped 1.7 percent, partially due to first discounts given on spring and summer articles.

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