Consumer prices in Germany were 1.3 percent higher in March 2019 than the same time last year, weakening the inflation rate, which was 1.5 percent, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday.

Compared to the previous month of February, the German consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.4 percent in March 2019.

German consumers had to pay significantly more for energy than in March last year as fuel and household energy prices rose by 4.2 percent.

The price increases for energy products drove an above-average rate of prices for goods in Germany of 1.6 percent between March 2018 and March 2019. Excluding energy prices, the rate of inflation would have been 1.1 percent last month.

A recent prognosis by leading German economic research institutes predicted that consumers will not have to fear a sharp rise in prices as the inflation rate will remain moderate in 2019.

The institutes are expecting an annual average price increase of 1.5 percent in 2019 and 1.8 percent in 2020 in Germany. Enditem