Germany’s import prices declined at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in August, figures from Destatis showed Tuesday.
The import price index fell 3.1 percent year-over-year in August, faster than the 1.7 percent decrease in the previous month. Economists had expected a 3.0 percent drop for the month.
The import price index has been falling since January 2013. The latest rate of decline was the fastest since January, when prices had fallen 4.4 percent.
The annual decrease in August was largely caused by a 29.8 percent slump in energy prices. At the same time, excluding energy prices, import prices rose 1.6 percent in August from a year ago.
On a monthly basis, import prices slid 1.5 percent in August, just above economists’ forecast for a 1.4 percent fall. In July, prices had dropped 0.7 percent. It was the fourth successive monthly decrease.
Meanwhile, export prices declined at a slower pace of 0.8 percent yearly in August, following a 1.2 percent climb in the preceding month. The index has been rising since September last year.
Monthly, export prices went down 0.5 percent in August, reversing a 0.1 percent slight increase in the prior month.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com