According to the report from Destatis, in August 2021 the selling prices in wholesale trade rose by 12.3% compared with August 2020. This was the highest monthly annual rate of change since October 1974 after the first oil crisis (+13.2% compared with October 1973). In July 2021 and in June 2021 the annual rates of change had been +11.3% and +10.7%, respectively. From July 2021 to August 2021 the index rose by 0.5%.

The high year-on-year increase in wholesale prices is due, on the one hand, to the current sharp rise in prices for many raw materials and intermediate products. On the other hand, a base effect due to the very low price level of the previous year's months in connection with the Corona crisis comes into play.

In August 2021, the biggest impact on the rate of change in the wholesale price index compared to the same month of the previous year was due to price increases in the wholesale of ores, metals and semi-finished metals (+63.4 %) and solid fuels and petroleum products (+35.5 %).