Germany’s inflation rate was confirmed at 2.8 percent year on year in October, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said in its final release, matching the provisional result published on October 30 and slowing from 3.3 percent in September and 2.9 percent in August. Consumer prices fell 0.2 percent from September. The harmonised index used for euro area comparisons also rose 2.8 percent year on year and fell 0.1 percent on the month.
Energy remained the driver, even as it cooled. Energy product prices were 12.2 percent higher than in October 2025, down from a 14.9 percent annual rise in September. Motor fuel prices rose 28.9 percent year on year, against 37.1 percent in September, and Destatis said the fuel discount that took effect on October 1 likely dampened the increase. Heating oil prices rose 84.5 percent year on year, while electricity was 5.2 percent cheaper and natural gas excluding operating costs was 1.2 percent cheaper than a year earlier.
Underneath the energy story, pressure eased. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, slowed to 2.1 percent from 2.4 percent in each month from July to September. Food prices rose just 0.4 percent year on year, the same pace as September, goods prices rose 3.0 percent, and services prices rose 2.5 percent, below the headline rate. Net rents excluding heating expenses rose 1.9 percent.
For the European Central Bank, the print cuts both ways ahead of the December 16 to 17 meeting. Germany’s core rate at 2.1 percent sits close to target and its headline rate fell half a point, while the euro area flash estimate for October, at 4.0 percent, moved the other way and ECB officials including Lane and Kazaks built the case for a December increase earlier this week on energy pass-through. The German detail supports the view that the energy shock is lifting the headline without yet broadening: excluding food and energy, and excluding heating oil and motor fuels at 1.7 percent, the underlying rates are lower than the headline, not higher.