In Munich, Bavaria, Upper Bavaria, Germany, December 28, 2024, shoppers walk along shopping streets during the holiday season, taking advantage of post-Christmas sales in stores.
Michael Nguyen | Nurphoto | Getty Images
German inflation jumped to a higher-than-expected 2.9 percent in December, Germany’s statistics office Destatis said in its first reading since the country’s government was dissolved late last month.
The preliminary printout of the consumer price index in the country is harmonized across the euro area for comparability. That compared with analysts polled by Reuters forecast for 2.6%.
December was the third consecutive month in which German inflation returned above the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target. Indicator fell to 1.8% in Septemberand then jumped back on 2.4 percent in October and was unchanged at that level in November.
The latest data comes at a time of political uncertainty in Germany and is one of the last key economic readings before federal elections are held earlier than originally planned on February 23.
Now the former ruling coalition in Germany broke up in Novemberwhen Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed former Finance Minister Christian Lindner and announced that he would call early elections.
Since then, the country has taken a series of constitutionally mandated steps to pave the way for elections, including a vote that expressed a loss of confidence in Scholz and the official dissolution of the lower house of the German parliament by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
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