Business News
German inflation hits 13-year high
Jan 16, 2008, 8:37 GMT
Berlin - German inflation climbed to its highest level in 13 years in 2007 with data released Wednesday saying that consumer prices averaged 2.2 per cent in Europe's biggest economy last year.
This compared to an inflation rate of 1.7 per cent in 2006 with higher energy costs and food prices as well as the hefty three-percentage points increase in Germany's sales tax at the start of 2007 helping to fuel the pickup in the nation's inflation rate.
The release of the data, which was drawn up by Germany's statistics office, also came amid signs of resurgent inflation around the world.
Energy prices jumped by 3.9 per cent compared to 2006, the statistics office said, with the cost of electricity climbing by 6.8 per cent last year.
At the same time, food prices rose 3.1 per cent with flour climbing by 15.4 per cent and butter recording a more than 19.1 per cent increase.
However, the statistics office said annual inflation eased as the year came to an end, edging down in December to 2.8 per cent from 3.1 per cent in November.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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