By Maria Martinez
German consumer prices declined further in December on the year, according to preliminary data released by the German statistics office Destatis on Wednesday.
On a year-on-year basis, consumer prices fell 0.3% measured by national standards, more than the 0.2% drop expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
Consumer prices declined 0.7% year-on-year by EU-harmonized standards, also more than the 0.6% drop expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
The inflation rate was partly influenced by the value-added-tax reduction effective at the beginning of July, the statistics office said. The temporary VAT cut will be reversed in January.
As an annual average, the inflation rate is expected to stand at 0.5% in 2020, Destatis said.
Consumer prices rose 0.5% on month by national standards and 0.6% by EU-harmonized standards. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast prices would rise 0.6% by national standards and 0.8% by EU-harmonized standards on month.
The coronavirus pandemic and its related restrictions caused pricing collection problems again in December as some products weren't available in the market, Destatis said. Final results for December will be released on Jan. 19.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-06-21 0824ET
