Germany's Consumer Prices Rise Most In More Than A Year

Germany's consumer prices increased at the fastest rate in more than a year in March, final data from the statistical office Destatis showed on Thursday.

Consumer prices grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in March, in line with preliminary estimate, following a 1.3 percent rise in February. A similar higher rate was last reported in February 2020.

Consumer prices increased for the third month in a row after the temporary reduction of the value added tax rates had ended.

Prices of goods advanced 1.9 percent and that of services gained 1.6 percent in March. Food prices were up 1.6 percent and energy prices advanced 4.8 percent.

Excluding energy, inflation was 1.4 percent in March.

At the same time, harmonized inflation based on the EU measure climbed to 2 percent in March from 1.6 percent in February. This was the highest rate since April 2019, when prices moved up 2.1 percent. The annual rate came in line with the preliminary estimate released on March 30.

Month-on-month, consumer prices and the harmonized index of consumer prices rose 0.5 percent each, as previously estimated.

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