German import prices increased 8.3% in August compared with the same month of 2025, the fastest year-on-year rise since December 2022, when the rate was 9.6%. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that the index also climbed 1.0% from July. The annual rate had been 6.8% in July and 6.1% in June, so the August reading extended an acceleration in imported input costs.

Energy prices were a major driver. Imported energy cost 43.0% more than a year earlier and 7.5% more than in July. Electricity was up 63.9% year on year, mineral oil products 63.3%, natural gas 41.9% and crude oil 32.0%. On a monthly basis, electricity rose 20.2%, natural gas 9.8%, mineral oil products 7.0% and crude oil 5.2%. Intermediate goods were 11.0% more expensive year on year, including a 29.1% rise for non-ferrous metals and semi-finished products.

The increase was broad but not universal: excluding energy, import prices were 5.1% higher year on year and 0.3% above July. Imported agricultural products were 2.4% cheaper than a year earlier, while imported consumer goods were 0.5% cheaper. Export prices rose 4.7% over the year and 0.4% month on month, their strongest annual increase since February 2023. These are contract prices for goods bought or sold by domestic businesses, excluding taxes and customs duties; the index uses 2021 as its base year. The figures describe German border prices, not the final prices paid by households.