German Import Prices Fall the Most in 21 Months

Germany’s import prices dropped 2.3% year-on-year in December 2025, following a 1.9% decline in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a 2.6% fall. This marked the ninth consecutive month of declining import prices and the steepest drop since March 2024, driven largely by a sharp fall in energy costs (-20.6%), particularly natural gas (-23.4%), crude oil (-23.2%), hard coal (-20.9%), electricity (-14.0%), and mineral oil products (-13.1%). Excluding energy, import prices were down 0.3%. Prices for capital goods also decreased by 0.5%. On a monthly basis, import prices edged down 0.1% in December, compared with market expectations of a 0.4% decline, after a 0.5% increase in November, which was the fastest monthly gain in 10 months.