German prices down on oil

Inflation rates around the world are mainly being driven by oil prices, as reflected again in the German data reported by Bloomberg yesterday.

Consumer prices in Germany, Europe's largest economy, fell the most in almost 15 years this month as oil costs declined.

Prices dropped 0.5 percent from October, the biggest decline since records for a reunified Germany began in January 1991, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists expected a 0.3 percent decline, the median of 38 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed. The annual inflation rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent...

German consumer prices according to the European Union's harmonized index fell 0.4 percent from October and gained 2.5 percent from a year earlier.

It was a similar story for German October import prices reported by Bloomberg the day before.

Import price inflation in Germany, Europe's largest economy, slowed in October as oil prices retreated from a record.

Import prices rose 4.3 percent from a year ago after gaining 5.1 percent in September, the fastest annual pace since January 2001, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said in a faxed statement today. Economists expected the rate to slow to 3.5 percent in October, the median of 21 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey showed. From September, prices rose 0.4 percent.