Germany has seen its highest annual inflation in more than 70 years, according to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday.
Soaring energy and food prices due to the Russian attack on Ukraine pushed full-year inflation to 7.9% in 2022. The last time annual inflation was near this level was in 1951, when it was 7.6% at the start of the post-war economic boom. Annual inflation in 2021 was 3.1%.
Preliminary data showed that inflation slowed somewhat to 8.6% year-on-year in December as one-off government payments to help consumers pay their heating and gas bills took effect. Monthly inflation hit a record 10.4% in October before falling to 10% in November.
INFLATION IN GERMANY REACHES NEAR A 50-YEAR HIGH DURING THE ENERGY CRISIS
Rising prices reduce consumers’ purchasing power. Many German unions have successfully lobbied for above-average wage increases in recent months to offset the effects of inflation.
A man uses an ATM in a bank in Berlin, Germany, on December 26, 2022. In 2022, Germany recorded the highest annual inflation rate in more than 70 years. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, unemployment figures in Europe’s largest economy edged up to 2.45 million or 5.4% in December. This was about 0.1 percentage point higher than in November, although such an increase at the end of the year is not uncommon due to the expiry of fixed-term contracts.
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The average number of unemployed for the whole of 2022 was 2.42 million, almost 200,000 fewer than in 2021.