Germany’s Producer Price Index Increases at the Fastest Rate Since November 1951

The German statistics office Destatis reported on Friday (11-19-21) that the Producer Price Index for industrial products in German rose 18.4% year-over-year in October 2021. According to Destatis, this is the highest on-year increase since November 1951. Compared with the previous month, the index rose by 3.8% in October.

The main driver of the increase was energy prices, the statistics office said. Energy prices rose by 48.2% on year, due to the strong rise in natural gas prices. The overall index, after stripping out energy, was up 9.2% on year in October, Destatis said. Prices of intermediate goods increased by 18.1% compared with October 2020, Destatis said. Intermediate goods prices increased particularly for metals, raw materials, sawn timber, and wood.

In commenting on the PPI, Thomas Rinn, Accenture’s global industrial lead said, “Friday’s figures show that Germany’s export-driven industrial sector remains at the mercy of supply bottlenecks and port backlogs.”