A customer selects shoes on sale outside a shoe store in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)
BERLIN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday.
Annual inflation was mainly driven by high monthly rates in the second half of 2021, peaking at 5.3 percent in December 2021, according to Destatis.
The temporary reduction of value added tax (VAT) and the sharp decline in mineral oil products during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis had a strong upward effect on the overall inflation rate in 2021, it noted.
"In addition to the temporary base effects of the past, there are more and more crisis-related effects such as delivery bottlenecks and marked price increases at upstream stages in the economic process," said Georg Thiel, president of Destatis.
Following a 4.8-percent decrease in 2020, prices of energy products were markedly up by 10.4 percent in 2021 year-on-year, according to Destatis. Prices for motor fuels and heating oil prices were up by 22.6 percent and 41.8 percent, respectively. The CO2 charge introduced at the beginning of 2021 also had an upward effect on prices.
German consumers and companies "should prepare for further price increases," the ifo Institute said on Wednesday. In December, the index for price expectations fell only slightly to 44.6 points, after an all-time high of 44.9 points in November, according to an ifo company survey.
"Companies are passing on the increased cost of energy and of procuring intermediate products and merchandise," said Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of ifo economic forecasts. "Inflation will decline over the course of this year, but slowly."
The ifo Institute is expecting an annual inflation rate of 3.5 percent this year. ■
A pedestrian walks past a show window in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)
People shop at a market in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
A customer shops at a market in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
A customer shops at a market in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
A customer shops for vegetables at a market in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
A customer shops at a market in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 19, 2022. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)
Photo taken on Jan. 19, 2022 shows a gas station in Berlin, capital of Germany. Germany's annual inflation rate reached 3.1 percent in 2021, the highest level since 1993, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday. (Photo by Stefan Zeitz/Xinhua)
