According to the report from Destatis, compared with December 2018, the consumer price  in Germany index fell markedly by 0.8% in January 2019. Consumer prices were 1.4% higher in January 2019 than in January 2018. The inflation rate – measured by the consumer price index – thus decreased (December 2018: +1.6%).

The main reason for the inflation rate being lower than in the previous month was the development of energy product prices. Energy prices rose 2.3% in January 2019 on January 2018. The increase in energy prices thus slowed again (December 2018: +4.9%; November 2018: +8.7%). A glance at the individual energy products shows that the prices of electricity, gas and other fuels were up 3.3% from January 2018 to January 2019. Motor fuel prices rose 0.3% over the same period. Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate in January 2019 would have been +1.3%.

A major reason for the 0.8% decrease in prices in January 2019 on December 2018 was seasonal factors. Especially package holiday prices (-24.6%) in January 2019 were lower than in the vacation month of December. Also, the prices of clothing (-6.0%) and footwear (-3.1%) were markedly down on the previous month, which was especially due to the discounts given on the winter collection.