Germany's Import Prices Down By 3.6% In March

Import prices dropped 3.6% in Germany last month compared to their level in March 2023, according to data that the country's statistical office released on Tuesday.

The year-on-year rate of change was minus 4.9% in February 2024, and minus 5.9% in January 2024, Destatis noted.

Export prices, meanwhile, in March 2024 were 1% lower than in March 2023.

"The decline in the prices of imported intermediate goods compared with the same month of the previous year (-5.9%) had the biggest impact on the overall development of import prices in March 2024," Destatis said.

It indicated that several goods in this category were less expensive than they were a year earlier, including fertilizer and nitrogen compounds, which fell 21.1%, paper and paperboard with their 14.4% decline, metals at minus 10.9%, and plastics in primary forms at minus 10.7%.

The prices of energy imports in March 2024 were down 15.1% from March 2023.

Consumer inflation was at 2.2% in the country this month, Destatis had announced on Monday. -