German import price index declines at slower pace in October

Germany’s import price index on a year-on-year basis improved in October. The rate of decline in the import prices slowed down for the sixth consecutive month. The index of import prices dropped 0.6 percent as compared with the same month in the preceding year, according to the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis).

This is an improvement from September’s year-on-year decline of 1.8 percent and August’s year-on-year fall of 2.6 percent. Consensus expectations were for the index to drop 0.8 percent.

On a sequential basis, Germany’s import price index was up 0.9 percent in October. Excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, the import price index dropped 0.7 percent year-on-year in October.

Meanwhile, the index of export prices fell 0.1 percent year-on-year in October. This is an improvement from September’s annual rate of a decline of 0.6 percent and August’s year-on-year decline of 0.9 percent. On a sequential basis, Germany’s export price index was up 0.3 percent in October.