German consumer price data today suggested the annual rate of inflation may have risen slightly more than expected in June on surging oil prices.
Official data from the states of Hesse, Brandenburg and Bavaria regions showed prices rose by 0.2 per cent from May, with the annual rates of inflation in the three increasing by between 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points.
Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the data forecast prices for the whole of Germany would rise by 0.1 per cent in June month-on-month.
They predicted the annual inflation rate would climb to 1.8 per cent from 1.7 per cent in May.
The German regional data provide the first hint of wider price trends across the 12-nation euro zone.
In May, the annual rate of inflation in the countries using the euro dipped 0.2 points to 1.9 per cent, bringing it in line with the European Central Bank's target threshold of just below but close to two percent for the first time since January.
The German data showed annual inflation in Hesse rose 0.3 percentage points to 1.3 per cent in June, by 0.2 points to 2.2 per cent in Brandenburg and by 0.1 point to 2.2 per cent in Bavaria.