Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that in May, producer prices were unchanged after an increase of 0.2% in April. Economists expected growth of 0.3%. In annual terms, producer prices fell by 2.2%, slowing compared to April (-3.3%). Consensus estimates suggested a 3.2% drop. It was the 11th fall in a row, but the weakest in this series.
Destatis said that lower energy prices continued to be the main reason for the year-on-year decline in producer prices. In May, energy prices fell by 6.4% per annum, and decreased by 0.5% on a monthly basis. Lower prices for natural gas and electricity had the biggest influence on the year-on-year rate of change for energy. Across all customer groups, gas prices declined by 16.3% per annum and by 0.6% m/m. Electricity cost 11.3% less in May 2024 than in May 2023 across all customer groups. Compared with April, electricity prices increased by 0.8%. Meanwhile, intermediate goods prices fell by 1.8% per year and increased by 0.3% compared to April. The prices of non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.4% per annum and by 0.1% m/m. Food prices in May were slightly down (-0.2%) from May 2023. Durable consumer goods were 0.7% more expensive than in May 2023. They declined by 0.1% from April. Capital goods prices rose by 2.4% year on year and by 0.2% compared with April.
The data also showed that in May, the producer price index excluding energy remained unchanged from May 2023 and rose by 0.3% compared with April.