As reported by Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in May this year the producer prices of industrial products in Germany rose by 2.1 percent compared to May 2011 prices and were down slightly by 0.3 percent compared to April of the current year.
The office noted that price increases for energy had the highest influence on the year-on-year change rate, as in previous months. Compared with the same month of the previous year, in May this year energy was more expensive by around 4.2 percent, but was down 0.9 percent month on month. Without considering energy, the rise in producer prices was just 1.3 percent on year-on-year basis and remained unchanged compared to April.
In May, prices of intermediate goods increased by 0.6 percent, while rolled steel prices fell by 5.7 percent, both compared to the same month of 2011.