FRANKFURT, Jun 10 – German consumer prices showed no annual change in May for the first time since 1987, with Europe\’s biggest economy officially recording zero inflation, the federal statistics office said on Wednesday.
On a monthly basis, prices slipped by 0.1 percent, the Destatis office added as it presented final figures for May.
The annual rate of zero percent is largely the result of a comparison effect since inflation was soaring in May 2008 owing in particular to a spike in oil prices, Destatis noted.
In the past year, the cost of oil and many food products has fallen, and if these categories, which account for around 20 percent of the total, were excluded from the calculation, inflation would have amounted to 1.4 percent.
On the year, energy prices fell by eight percent and that of food products by 1.2 percent, lead by dairy products and vegetables were cost eight and six percent less, respectively.
