German import prices fell 7% in April, their biggest drop since 2009

MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The German import price index decreased by 7% in April compared to the same month of the previous year, after the 3.8% drop observed in March, which represents the biggest year-on-year drop in the data since October 2009 , according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The sharp drop in the cost of German imports mainly reflected lower energy prices, import prices for which fell 31.8% annually, after falling 6.6% in March.

This drop was due to the 38.7% year-on-year reduction in the price of natural gas, while the prices of imported hard coal were considerably lower than those of a year earlier (-44.3%), as was electricity (- 38.6%), oil products (-28.4%) and crude oil (-21.2%).

Thus, the import price index, excluding crude oil and petroleum derivatives, decreased by 5.2% in April 2023 compared to the same month in 2022 and fell by 1.8% compared to March 2022. 2023.

On the other hand, the cost of importing intermediate goods fell by 6.5% year-on-year, after the drop of 1.2% in March, while the prices of consumer goods and capital goods increased by 4.6% and 4.7% compared to April 2022.

In the case of exports, the price index was 1.1% higher in April 2023 than a year earlier, after the data increased 2.3% year-on-year in March and 6.6% in February.

The price increase in April was mainly due to the evolution of capital goods, with a year-on-year rise of 5.4%, while consumer goods became more expensive by 4.9% and the prices of intermediate goods decreased by -0.2% compared to April 2022.

In turn, energy exports were 34.3% cheaper than in April 2022, after the 2.4% drop registered in March, mainly due to the fall in the price of natural gas (-45.1 % compared to April 2022).