Germany's annual inflation rate eased in October, as the provisional consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.8% year over year and fell from September, reversing the previous month's increase. Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) data released Oct. 30 put September's annual reading at 3.3%; the CPI had risen 0.6% month over month then. October's monthly decline was 0.2%. The year-over-year rate compares October prices with those a year earlier, while the monthly figure tracks the change since September.
Several measures also showed slower price growth. The index excluding food and energy recorded a 2.1% annual increase, compared with 2.4% in September. Energy was still 12.2% more expensive than a year earlier, but its annual rate of increase was below September's 14.9%. Goods inflation eased to 3% from 3.8%, while services price growth slipped to 2.5% from 2.7%. Food inflation was unchanged at 0.4%. Core CPI excludes food and energy; goods, services and energy figures cover separate categories.
September's 3.3% reading was the highest annual rate recorded during 2026 and the highest since December 2023, Destatis said. The office linked that month's rise to energy costs, including road fuels and heating oil. October's figures show energy prices continued to rise year over year, even as the pace of that increase slowed.
Destatis also reported preliminary results for Germany's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), a measure used to compare price trends across the euro area. It rose 2.8% over 12 months and fell 0.1% from September. The HICP and domestic CPI count prices differently and assign them different weights, the office said.
Final October CPI and HICP results are scheduled for Nov. 11. The figures reported Oct. 30 are preliminary and may be updated in that release.
