Germany’s producer prices rose at the fastest pace in seven decades in November, mainly driven by higher energy prices, preliminary data from Destatis showed Friday.
The producer price index rose 19.2 percent year-on-year after an 18.4 percent increase in October. Economists had forecast 19.9 percent producer price inflation. The latest increase in producer prices was the biggest since November 1951, when they surged 20.6 percent, Destatis said. Energy prices jumped 49.4 percent from a year ago, mainly led by an 83.4 percent surge in natural gas distribution costs and a 48 percent climb in electricity prices. Excluding energy, producer price inflation was 9.9 percent in November versus 9.2 percent in October. Prices of intermediate goods increased 19.1 percent annually, mainly due to higher prices of metal. Producer prices of non-durable consumer goods rose 3.7 percent and those of durable consumer goods increased 3.7 percent.
Capital goods prices climbed 3.6 percent from a year ago. Compared to the previous month, producer prices increased 0.8 percent in November, which was slower than the 1.4 percent rise economists had predicted.
In October, prices rose 3.8 percent. The latest increase was the weakest in seven months.