Intermediate goods remain the main cause for the overall development
Intermediate goods remain the main reason for overall development
According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), import prices in April 2024 decreased by 1.7 percent compared to April 2023.
However, compared to the previous month of March 2024, import prices increased by 0.7 percent.
Imported intermediate goods were 4.1 percent cheaper compared to April 2023. Nevertheless, they increased by 0.9 percent compared to March 2024. Thus, intermediate goods reportedly had the greatest influence once again on the overall development of import prices.
Energy prices and other categories
The prices of energy imports decreased by 7.0 percent in April 2024 compared to April 2023. However, prices increased by 2.4 percent compared to March 2024. The decline in natural gas prices had the most significant impact on the development of energy prices, decreasing by 23.5 percent compared to the same month last year. Natural gas was 1.7 percent more expensive compared to March 2024.
Excluding energy prices from the calculation, according to Destatis, import prices in April 2024 were only 1.0 percent lower than those of the same month last year and 0.6 percent higher than those of the previous month.
According to the data, imported consumer goods were 1.5 percent more expensive compared to the same month last year. Prices for durable consumer goods also increased, with a rise of 1.7 percent compared to April 2023. Prices for semi-durable goods increased by 0.7 percent over the same period. Capital goods increased by 0.3 percent compared to the previous year.
For consumer goods, cocoa products saw a threefold increase, rising by 196.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Decreased export prices
Export prices in April 2024 decreased by 0.2 percent compared to the same month last year. They increased by 0.4 percent compared to March 2024.
According to Destatis, intermediate goods were also the reason for the price development here. Exported intermediate goods were 2.2 percent cheaper compared to April 2023 and 0.6 percent more expensive compared to March 2024.
In April 2024, energy export prices were 17.3 percent lower than a year ago. Compared to March 2024, they increased by 0.9 percent. Once again, natural gas prices had the strongest impact, decreasing by 35.9 percent compared to the previous year and increasing by 1.6 percent compared to the previous month.
Compared to April 2023, prices for exported capital goods increased by 2.1 percent. Exported consumer goods were exported at prices 1.9 percent higher than the previous year.
Source: www.kloepfel-consulting.com