Daily Times

Germany’s wholesale prices in April decreased for the first time since the end-2020, official data revealed on Monday.

The selling prices in wholesale trade fell 0.5% year-on-year in April, returning to decrease after 27 consecutive months of hike, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) data showed. This was mainly due to a 15.7% annual drop in mineral oil products’ prices, it said. “Also scrap and residual materials (down 31.5 %), cereals, raw tobacco, seeds and feedstuff (down 25.2%), ores, metals and semi-finished metal products (down 20.5%) and chemical products (down 5.4%) had a large impact on the annual rate of change in April 2023,” it added. On the other hand, prices surged for fruit, vegetables and potatoes by 22.0%, building materials and elements by 13.9% and living animals by 11.4% compared to last year. In March, the annual wholesale inflation came in at 2%, Destatis said. On a monthly basis, wholesale prices inflation dropped 0.4% in April.