According to the report from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in April, the import price index fell 0.4% year-on-year after rising 2.1% in March. This was the first decline since October 2024 (when the index dropped 0.8%). Economists had expected a 0.1% increase. Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, import prices fell by 1.7%, accelerating from March (-1%). This was the largest decline since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in April 2020 (also -1.7% compared with 2019). Consensus estimates suggested a decrease of 1.4%.
Destatis reported that the decline in energy prices (-11.2% per annum and -11.2% m/m) had the biggest impact on the overall development of import prices in April. Crude oil (-25.3%), hard coal (-23.1%) and mineral oil products (-19.0%) were less expensive than in April 2024. On a monthly basis, the prices of crude oil fell by 9.2%, mineral oil products by 7.7% and hard coal by 6.1%. By contrast, import prices of electricity increased by 25.9%, and import prices of natural gas were up 12.7% per annum. Both were also down, however, compared with March, with prices of electricity falling 17.5% and those of natural gas declining 14.9%. The data also showed that when energy prices are excluded, import prices in April increased by 0.8% per annum and fell by 0.8% compared to March.
Meanwhile, the export price index rose by 1.0% per year in April after increasing by 2.0% per year in March. On a monthly basis, the export price index fell 0.5%.