For comparison, the average annual inflation rate was +5.9%. in 2023, +6.9 percent in 2022 and +3.1 percent in 2021. According to Destatis, the inflation rate in December in Germany was +1.8%. year on year, which is in line with forecasts. At the same time, it is this lowest inflation since September 2024
These are not necessarily positive data for the German economy, because they prove that the economy is growing (if it is growing) so slowly that enterprises are not able to obtain higher prices.
Polish exports are a plus
There are positives for the Polish economy in the price structure. The food industry is our most important production industry and, according to data from December, food prices are among the ones that grew the fastest.
Meat prices increased by 3.9%. y/y (including beef and veal: +14.1%; poultry: +6.3%), and fruit by 3%. In turn, edible fats and oils were much cheaper than a year earlier (-20.2% yoy, including butter: -31.7% yoy; olive oil: -17.7% yoy). Alcohol and cigarettes, which are also strong exports for Poland, increased in price by 2.6%, which is also above the general inflation rate.
Fuels became cheaper in Germany by 0.7%, but this only concerns gasoline (-1% yoy), because diesel prices increased slightly (+0.1% yoy). Electricity (-1.8% yoy), heating oil (-3.6% yoy) and natural gas (-0.3% yoy) also became cheaper.
The high increase concerned the prices of accommodation and catering services (+3.6% yoy) and package holidays (+4% yoy).
Inflation month to month
Compared to November 2025, the consumer price index remained stable in December 2025 (0.0%). Seasonally, the largest increases were recorded in the prices of airline tickets (+24.0%) and package tours (+6.0%).
Overall food prices decreased by 0.1%. compared to the previous month. In addition to the increase in vegetable prices (+3.3%), particularly noteworthy was the renewed decline in butter prices by 12.5%, following significant declines in butter prices in recent months (November: -4.6%; October 2025: -10.0%).
Energy prices dropped by 1.1%. compared to the previous month, and in particular fuel prices dropped by 2.2%.
Core inflation in Germany
The annual inflation rate excluding energy and food, often called core inflation, was +2.8%. in 2025, compared to +3.0 percent in 2024 and +5.1 percent in 2023, Destatis said.
“Although the rate weakened in 2025 compared to the previous two years, it remained above overall inflation. This shows that inflation in other goods sectors remained high on average throughout 2025.” – we read in Destatis' comment.
