People in Germany can hope for further relaxation in prices. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, prices for agricultural products and at the wholesale level continued to weaken. This is usually reflected in the prices that consumers pay with a time lag. The development also depends on other factors, for example the competition.
Producer prices for agricultural products fell in June for the third time in a row compared to the previous year. According to the information, farmers received an average of 4.9 percent less for their goods than a year earlier. A statistical base effect also played a role here. Agricultural prices had skyrocketed a year ago as a result of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Compared to the previous month of May, an increase of 0.9 percent was recorded in June.
Significant decline in grain
Year-on-year, prices for crop products fell by 11.7 percent in June. There was a significant decline in cereals in particular. Fruit (8.8 percent) and vegetables (31.6 percent), on the other hand, increased in price at producer level. At minus 0.1 percent, animal products recorded the first year-on-year decline since May 2021. The sales prices are described without sales tax, which are paid directly to the farmers as producers.
At the wholesale level, data is already available for July: these prices fell for the fourth consecutive year on a year-on-year basis last month. They fell by 2.8 percent. A month-on-month decrease of 0.2 percent was recorded.
Crucial for the current drop in prices is the development of petroleum products such as petrol, which were 20.8 percent cheaper in July than a year ago. Wholesale prices for scrap and residues, grain, raw tobacco, seeds and animal feed, ores and metals, and chemical products also fell.
Wholesale is one of several economic stages at which the general price level is formed. This also includes the prices for goods imported into Germany and the prices that manufacturers receive for their products. They have an effect – usually with a time lag – on the development of inflation. In July, the annual inflation rate was 6.2 percent, down from 6.4 percent in June. Inflation reached its highest level since reunification last fall at 8.8 percent.
