German inflation set a 14-year record last year of 2.6%, final figures released today by the national statistics office showed, a result of higher costs for petrol and food.
The last time consumer prices rose by that much in a year was in 1994, the Destatis statistics office said.
Energy prices gained 9.6% on the year, while food cost 6.4% more, Destatis said. An additional factor was the increase in 2007 of Germany's value added tax, the effects of which took a few months to feed into the economy.
In December, however, inflation was just 1.1% on a 12-month basis, the lowest level since October 2006, Destatis said, owing to a sharp drop in oil prices.
