Fuel prices and seasonal cost factors kept up pressure on German inflation in July, although the country's national index of consumer prices (CPI) eased slightly thanks to base effects, official data showed.
Annual CPI eased by a tenth of a percentage point in July to 1.9 per cent, the Federal Statistics Office said today, confirming a preliminary estimate from late July.
An office spokesman said the annual slowdown was due to the fact prices had risen more sharply in July last year.
Month-on-month, prices increased by 0.4 per cent, with fuel prices climbing by 1.8 per cent to reach a new record high. The cost of package holidays and holiday accommodation also jumped sharply from June.
Excluding energy, prices would have risen by only 1.1 per cent on the year, the figures showed.
Germany's European Union-harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) showed inflation accelerated to 2.1 per cent last month from 2 per cent in June. On the month, the HICP advanced by 0.5 per cent.
Final German HICP therefore offered no relief to price developments across the wider euro zone, where according to a preliminary estimate from the EU's statistics office, Eurostat, annual inflation held steady at 2.5 per cent in July.
With Germany accounting for nearly a third of the euro zone price index, inflation likely remained well above the European Central Bank's target rate of just under 2 per cent.