Official figures show that German inflation dropped slightly in November and remains below the average rates seen elsewhere among the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.
The Federal Statistical Office said that German prices were 1.9% higher in November than the year before, compared to October's level of 2%.
It credited the modest drop to a smaller rise in household energy and motor fuel costs.
Using the calculation used by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, the rate in Europe's largest economy was also 1.9%, compared to 2.1% in October.
The euro zone saw inflation fall to 2.2% in November from 2.5% in October. The ECB's target is to set policy to achieve an inflation rate of just below 2%.
