The extraordinarily strong price increase continues. In April, the inflation rate in Germany reached 7.4%, as announced by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday after an initial estimate. It was 7.3 percent in March and 5.1 percent in February.
Inflation rates of over 7% were last seen in Germany about 40 years ago. At 7.4%, inflation in the European Monetary Union reached its highest level since it was founded.
There has been a noticeable change since March. Compared to the previous year, energy prices are no longer rising as sharply and, in some cases, are even falling slightly from the previous month. In return, food prices are rising even more. Above all, those who are affected in some way by the war in Ukraine, such as vegetable oil and products made from grains, such as bread. In both cases, Ukraine was one of the important producing countries.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner was concerned about high inflation. “It’s a burden for a lot of people,” says Lindner. Such a high rate of inflation jeopardizes the stability of the economy and undermines investment, the FDP chairman said on Thursday in Berlin. “A deep crisis can develop from such an economic situation.” That’s why the federal government is already relieving businesses and families. He also demanded that Germany move away from loose financial policy. The debt brake anchored in the Basic Law must be met again in 2023. Priorities must then be defined in the budget. Above all, this means that the planned projects of the traffic light coalition agreement must be put in sequence for implementation.
Economist Carl Christian von Weizsäcker even thinks it’s possible that officially measured inflation in the food sector is still an understatement, because supermarket shelves for some of the foods particularly affected by the war were sometimes empty, making collecting prices more difficult.
Some energy prices even fall compared to March
At gas stations, prices were not as high as around March 10. The price of the Super E10 has dropped on average from 2.20 euros to 1.96 euros per liter, while the diesel has dropped from 2.31 euros to 2.02 euros per liter. However, they are still extraordinarily high prices in the historical comparison and also in comparison with the previous year. The price of crude oil, which rose to nearly $130 a barrel (159-liter barrels) after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, has also calmed down a bit, and more recently hovered at $105. Again and again, however. , war news and sanctions can take you up.
State statistical institutes have published somewhat more detailed figures on the evolution of prices for individual products. According to economist Holger Schmieding, the figures for North Rhine-Westphalia, mostly quite representative, show that the sharp rise in food prices and, to a lesser extent, package holidays more than offset the drop in peak oil prices. in March from the Hamburg banking house Berenberg.