German inflation slows slightly in May
Friday, 26 May 2006Inflation in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, slowed this month as energy prices come off the boil slightly, according to the latest preliminary consumer price data.
The German consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.2% in May from the figure for April and was 1.9% higher than it had been in May 2005, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. The 12-month rate of inflation was therefore fractionally slower than the 2% recorded in April.
Preliminary pan-German CPI is calculated on the basis of cost-of-living data for six so-called indicator states - Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. And headline inflation slowed in five of the six states, regional data showed.
Final CPI, based on consumer price data for all 16 German states, is scheduled to be released in mid-June.
Using the European harmonised index of consumer prices, which the European Central Bank sees at its inflation yardstick, headline inflation in Germany slowed to 2.1% on a 12-month basis in May from 2.3% in April.
The European Central Bank sees 2% as the ceiling for inflation in the 12 countries that share the euro.
