Germany's import price inflation accelerated in July to its highest level in four decades, preliminary data from Destatis showed Friday.
The import price index climbed 15.0 percent year-on-year after a 12.9 percent increase in July. Economists had forecast an rise of 13.6 percent.
The latest rise was the strongest since September 1971, when import prices rose 17.4 percent, Destatis said.
Compared to the previous month, import prices rose 2.2 percent.
In July, the import price inflation was driven by energy imports, prices of which surged 89.6 percent. The high rate was due to the very low prices in July 2020.
Prices of natural gas imports soared 170.5 percent and those of crude oil imports climbed 68.9 percent.
Excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, import prices increased 12.2 percent in July and rose 2.0 percent from the previous month.
Export prices climbed 6.3 percent year-on-year in July, which was the fastest pace since January 1982. On a month-on-month basis, export prices rose 1.2 percent.
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