BERLIN (Reuters) – Inflation in six major German states fell in December for a second consecutive month, statistics showed on Tuesday, suggesting that domestic price inflation may also have slowed thanks in part to government aid.
In Germany’s most populous Land, North Rhine-Westphalia, inflation rose to 8.7% over one year, against +10.4 in November.
The inflation rate reached 9.2% in Bavaria, 8.1% for Hesse, 9.1% in Brandenburg, 8.7% in Saxony and 8.5% in Baden-Württemberg, reflecting there too a slowdown.
The data from these six Länder are used to calculate the preliminary estimate of German inflation which will be published at 13:00 GMT.
Economists polled by Reuters before the release of the Länder figures on average forecast an inflation rate of 10.7% for the last month, after 11.3% in November.
The reimbursement by the State of household energy bills in December and the capping of gas and electricity prices are part of the initiatives taken by the government of Olaf Scholz to protect consumers.
The Bundesbank expects the inflation rate to fall in December, its president Joachim Nagel said last month, adding that it will remain around 7% in 2023 before falling significantly in 2024.
According to the latest forecast from the German central bank, inflation is now expected at 7.2% in 2023 and 4.1% in 2024.
(Miranda Murray, French version Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)