Inflation: producer prices rise by 6.7 percent

German manufacturers have raised their prices in September as much as they have not for three and a half years. Producers of commercial products – from food to industrial goods – demanded an average of 6.7 percent more than a year earlier, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday. A larger increase was last in March 2023 with 7.5 percent. The strength of the increase driven by expensive energy is surprising: economists had expected a value of only 6.2 percent after prices rose by 4.6 percent in August. “At the upstream level, there is still striking price pressure,” said chief economist Alexander Krüger from Bank Bethmann HAL. The annual rate is expected to rise towards ten percent. “Sooner or later, this should also push consumer prices,” added Krüger. Price driver number one was once again energy: it increased by 14.9 percent. Petroleum products cost 51.3 percent more than in September 2025, “due to the acts of war in Iran and the Middle East,” the statisticians pointed out. For crude gasoline 53.8 percent more had to be paid, for light fuel oil even 91.8 percent and for fuels 48.6 percent more. Food, on the other hand, became 4.1 percent cheaper. Butter (-34.8 percent), pork (-13.9 percent) and beef (-9.9 percent) were significantly cheaper. More expensive than in the same month last year, however, were vegetable oils (+14.5 percent) and sugar (+4.1 percent). From August to September, producer prices rose by 1.9 percent. In the statistics, prices for products are recorded by manufacturers before they enter the wholesale and retail sector, for example. They are therefore seen as an early signal for general inflation. The Bundesbank expects continued high price pressure for the coming months. “Currently, it can be assumed that the inflation rate in Germany will remain noticeably higher until next year,” says the current monthly report. The inflationary pressures caused by commodity price shocks are only slowly decreasing. Although there are currently few signs that the inflation is taking a similarly steep path as from 2022 after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The return to the targeted two-percent mark will, however, “take some time”. Record-high prices for petrol and diesel as well as expensive heating oil have caused consumer prices to rise at 3.3 percent in September as strongly as they have not for almost three years.