BERLIN (Reuters) -German inflation fell in September to its lowest level since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, signalling what could be the beginning of the end for the high inflation that has weighed heavily on Europe’s largest economy.
German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, rose by an annual 4.3% in September, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a fall to 4.5% from 6.4% year-on-year in August.
Germany’s core inflation rate, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, fell to 4.6% year-on-year from 5.5% in August.
Food prices continued to show above-average growth, posting a 7.5% year-on-year increase. However, energy prices were only 1.0% higher on the year.
The end of temporary government energy relief measures and the cheapest public transportation offers added to upward price pressure in September 2022, setting a higher base for this month’s annual comparison.
The ECB is keeping a close eye on euro zone inflation data, with September’s reading due to be published on Friday. Spain earlier reported a 3.2% harmonised inflation rate for September.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the inflation rate across the 20 countries that use the euro to fall to 4.5% in September from 5.2% in August.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Miranda Murray and Friederike Heine; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
