- Anna Maria Grimaldi, an economist at Intesa San Paolo SpA
Germany's producer prices dropped more than expected in December amid a steep decline in energy prices. According to the Federal Statistical Office, producer prices, a proxy for the closely watched consumer prices, fell 0.5% on the month and were down 2.3% compared with December a year ago. Energy prices were the main drag, as they fell 1.4% in December from the preceding month, but plunged 6.8% from December 2014. Excluding volatile energy prices, producer prices slid 0.1% on the month and slipped 0.6% from a year earlier. For 2015 as a whole, producer prices registered their sharpest annual fall since 2009, when the Euro zone's largest economy was in recession. Producer prices declined 1.8% on average last year from 2014. German consumer prices also fell in December, when they declined 0.1% from November. Measured on an annual basis, the consumer price index climbed 0.3% in the reported month compared with the same period a year ago.
Data published earlier this week showed investor confidence in Germany declined in January for the first time in three months amid a turbulent start to the year for global equity markets triggered by concerns about China's economic outlook. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research reported that its index of investor and analyst expectations dropped to 10.2 in January, down from December's 16.1.
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