Inflation in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, looks set to slow this month as the price of heating oil and fuel eases from previous highs, consumer price data for key regional states shows today.
In the central state of Hesse, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.5% year-on-year in August, slower than the 1.9% recorded in July, the regional statistics office in Wiesbaden said. And in the eastern state of Brandenburg, inflation slowed to 2.1% on a 12-month basis this month from 2.3% last month.
A similar slowdown was already seen in cost-of-living data for two other regional states yesterday. In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, consumer price inflation slowed to 1.5% year-on-year in August from 1.8% in July. And in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, CPI rose by 1.7% in August, compared with 2.1% in July.
Regional cost of living data from six 'indicator states' - Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony - are used to calculate preliminary pan-German inflation. In July, pan-German inflation had stood at 1.9%.
The European Central Bank sees 2% as the ceiling for inflation in the 12 countries that share the euro.
