EuroWire, WIESBADEN: Germany’s inflation rate edged higher at the start of the year, with the federal statistical office confirming on Feb. 17 that consumer prices harmonised for comparison across the European Union rose 2.1% in January from a year earlier. The reading matched an earlier estimate and followed a 2.0% annual rate in December, indicating a modest re-acceleration after inflation eased late in 2025.
On the national measure, the consumer price index also stood at 2.1% year on year in January, up from 1.8% in December, the Federal Statistical Office said. Compared with the previous month, consumer prices rose 0.1% in January, pointing to a limited month-to-month increase even as the annual rate moved back above 2%.
Ruth Brand, the head of the Federal Statistical Office, said the rise in overall consumer prices intensified at the start of the year. She said food prices increased more in January than in the previous months, when food inflation had been running below the overall rate. She added that higher prices for services continued to be a key factor pushing inflation higher.
Data underpinning the January estimate, later confirmed, showed services prices rising 3.2% from a year earlier, while goods prices rose 1.0%. Food prices increased 2.1% year on year, a faster pace than in December, while energy prices were down 1.7% from a year earlier. Inflation excluding food and energy, a measure often used to track underlying price pressure, stood at 2.5% in January.
Food and services lift inflation at start of year
The January pickup followed several months in which overall inflation eased as energy prices fell and food inflation moderated. The statistical office said food prices had increased less than overall inflation from September through December, but accelerated in January. Services inflation remained above the headline rate, reflecting continued increases across a broad range of service categories even as the annual pace eased from the end of 2025.
The harmonised measure, known as the HICP, is designed for comparability across EU member states and is a key reference for eurozone monetary policy. Euro area annual inflation was estimated at 1.7% in January, down from 2.0% in December, according to the European Union’s statistical office. Earlier this month, the European Central Bank kept its three key interest rates unchanged, leaving the deposit facility rate at 2.00%, the main refinancing rate at 2.15% and the marginal lending facility at 2.40%.
Method changes reshape harmonised index
Germany’s harmonised inflation series also entered January with methodological updates. The statistical office said the HICP classification was revised to a newer European consumption categories standard, while the scope of the index was expanded to include games of chance. The HICP was also rebased to 2025 as the reference year, and its expenditure weights were updated as part of the annual process applied at the start of each year.
Germany’s inflation has cooled markedly from the surge seen earlier in the decade, though it remains sensitive to food and service-sector price movements. Consumer prices rose 2.2% on an annual average basis in 2025, following the same annual average rate in 2024, after inflation hit 5.9% in 2023 and 6.9% in 2022. In December 2025, inflation stood at 1.8% on the national measure and 2.0% on the harmonised measure before moving higher again in January.