German Inflation Accelerates On Higher Energy Prices

(RTTNews) - Germany's inflation accelerated in March as energy prices increased for the first time since late 2023 due to the Iran war, preliminary data from Destatis showed on Monday.

The consumer price index rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in March, faster than February's 1.9 percent gain. The rate came in line with expectations. EU harmonized inflation advanced to 2.8 percent in March, as expected, from 2.0 percent in February.

Excluding food and energy, core inflation was unchanged at 2.5 percent. Data showed that energy prices increased for the first time since December 2023. Prices advanced 7.2 percent, reversing the 1.9 percent drop a month ago.

Meanwhile, food inflation softened to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent and services inflation held steady at 3.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices grew 1.1 percent in March, which was much sharper than the 0.2 percent rise in February.

Similarly, the harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 1.2 percent after rising 0.4 percent in February. Final data is due on April 10.