According to the report from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), wholesale prices fell by 0.8% in August, offsetting the July increase (+0.3%), and recording the sharpest decline since May 2023. Economists had expected a 0.1% increase. In annual terms, wholesale prices fell by 1.1% after declining by 0.1% in July. It was the 16th fall in a row, and the strongest since April.
Destatis stated that the drop in prices in the wholesale of mineral oil products (-7.7% per annum) had the biggest impact on the overall development of wholesale prices. On a monthly basis, prices of mineral oil products fell by 3.1%. The drop in prices was also recorded for live animals (-8.3%), iron, steel and ferrous semi-finished metal products (-6.5%) and chemical products (-5.8%). The data also showed that the wholesale prices rose for coffee, tea, cocoa and spices (+19.6%), non-ferrous ores, non-ferrous metals and non-ferrous semi-finished metal products (+14.7%), waste and scrap (+14.4%), sugar, confectionery and bakery products (+9.3%) and tobacco products (+5.2%)