The large decreases are still primarily due to a base effect originating from the high price increases in 2022.

Compared with November, import prices were down by 1.1 per cent in the month.

On an annual average basis, import prices were 8.3 per cent lower last year than in 2022. That was the largest year-on-year drop in prices since 2009, Destatis said in a release.

Export prices in December last year were down by 2.4 per cent YoY. Compared with the previous month, they declined by 0.2 per cent. On an annual average basis, such prices were 0.3 per cent lower in 2023 than in 2022.

Energy imports in December last year cost 32.1 per cent less than in December 2022, and were 6.3 per cent less expensive than in November last year. Natural gas had the biggest influence on the YoY rate of change for energy, with prices in December last year 49 per cent lower than they were in December 2022.

All other imported energy sources were also considerably less expensive than in the same month a year earlier.

The prices of all energy sources also decreased compared with November 2023. The prices of natural gas dropped by 4.9 per cent, electricity by 25.2 per cent, crude oil by 8.1 per cent, mineral oil products by 5.7 per cent and hard coal by 2.8 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)