German Inflation Picks up More Steam, Hitting 2.5% Y/Y in May

31 May 2021

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Consumer prices in Germany accelerated for the fifth month in a row in May, growing at an annualized 2.5%, according to the flash estimate of the German Federal Statistical Office on Monday.

The increase represented a further pick-up of prices after readings of 2.0% in April, 1.7% in March, 1.3% in February and 1.0% in January were preceded by negative readings in each of the last four months of last year. On the month, German CPI in May came in at 0.5%.

On a harmonized basis, the flash estimate of German inflation was a slightly lower 2.4%, as compared to the ‘below, but close to, 2%’ threshold for price stability used by the European Central Bank.

HICP in Germany could ‘temporarily reach 4%’ later this year, the German Bundesbank said recently.

The Statistical Office will release final figures for April on June 15.