Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, announced on Wednesday that import prices rose by 6.1 percent in June 2026 compared to June 2025. This represented an increase from 6.8 percent in May 2026 and 5.3 percent in April 2026. Countercyclically, import prices decreased by 0.7 percent from May 2026 to June 2026.
In the export sector, prices increased by 3.5 percent in June 2026 compared to June 2025. This marked the strongest year-on-year increase since February 2023 (+6.6 percent vs. February 2022). Compared to May 2026, the increase was marginal at 0.1 percent, following a rate of 3.4 percent in May and 2.9 percent in April.
According to Destatis, the rise in prices for intermediate goods (Vorleistungsgüter) at 10.3 percent (down 0.1 percent from May 2026) and energy at 23.9 percent (down 6.6 percent from May 2026) were the main drivers of the overall import price trend in June 2026.
Within intermediate goods, non-ferrous metals and their semi-finished products saw a significant jump, rising 27.5 percent year-on-year, with precious metals and their semi-finished products surging 34.5 percent, and copper and its semi-finished products increasing by 30.3 percent. Furthermore, imported fertilizers and nitrogen compounds rose sharply by 28.3 percent, as did primary plastic forms, which jumped 23.8 percent.
The ongoing conflict in the Near East continues to heavily influence energy prices in comparison to last year. Compared to June 2025, imported electricity rose dramatically by 70.8 percent, mineral oil products by 36.0 percent, crude oil by 32.1 percent, hard coal by 12.1 percent, and natural gas by 8.3 percent. Month-on-month, electricity prices saw a particularly steep rise of 12.7 percent. Hard coal and natural gas prices only rose moderately, by 1.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Conversely, prices for crude oil dropped by 12.6 percent and mineral oil products fell by 9.9 percent compared to May 2026. While prices for imported jet fuel (kerosene) decreased by 18.1 percent, heavy fuel oil by 13.8 percent, and diesel/light heating oil by 12.6 percent, engine gasoline became 7.4 percent cheaper. However, lubricants and other oils specifically rose by 16.5 percent compared to the previous month.
Excluding energy prices, import prices increased by 4.3 percent in June 2026 compared to the previous year (+0.1 percent from May 2026). If only crude oil and mineral oil products are excluded, the import price index was 4.7 percent higher than in June 2025 (+0.2 percent from May 2026).
Destatis also reported that imported capital goods were more expensive both this year-on-year (up 2.9 percent vs. June 2025) and month-on-month (up 0.5 percent vs. May 2026). In contrast, imported agricultural goods were on average 6.5 percent cheaper in June 2026 year-on-year (-2.0 percent from May 2026). Raw cacao prices were 42.4 percent lower than in June 2025, but increased by 8.1 percent compared to May 2026. Live pigs were also cheaper by 32.1 percent year-on-year and 9.2 percent month-on-month. Raw coffee imports cost 7.2 percent less than a year ago, although they were 2.5 percent more expensive than in May. For imported cereals, prices were lower than in June 2025 (-4.4 percent), but 0.5 percent higher than in May 2026.
Finally, imported consumer goods (durable and non-durable goods) were 0.8 percent more affordable in June 2026 than the previous year (+0.2 percent from May 2026). While durable goods prices were 0.7 percent higher than in June 2025 (+0.2 percent from May 2026), non-durable goods were 1.2 percent cheaper year-on-year (+0.1 percent from May 2026). Generally, food items cost 6.4 percent less than in June 2025 (-0.5 percent from May 2026). Price drops were noted for cocoa butter, cocoa fat, and cocoa oil (-48.6 percent), pork (-23.8 percent), and fruit and vegetable juices (-26.3 percent). Conversely, shelled hazelnuts were higher than in June 2025 (+21.3 percent).
In terms of exports, the increase in the price of intermediate goods had the greatest influence on the year-on-year change due to their high weight in the total index. Intermediate goods averaged 6.0 percent higher than in June 2025 and 0.3 percent higher than in May 2026. Capital goods were 1.9 percent above the June 2025 level (+0.3 percent over May 2026). Together, these two categories account for almost 75 percent of exported goods.
The effects of the Iran conflict were also evident in export prices: energy exports were 26.7 percent higher than in June 2025, but 3.7 percent lower than in May 2026. Mineral oil products saw a significant rise of 32.1 percent year-on-year, yet dropped by 9.7 percent from May 2026. Specifically, exports of jet fuel (kerosene) were 46.1 percent more expensive than the previous year, dropping 19.6 percent compared to the previous month. Natural gas was also higher than in June 2025 (+12.7 percent), rising 0.3 percent from May 2026.
Exported consumer goods (durable and non-durable goods, making up about 21 percent of total exports) were 0.3 percent more expensive than in June 2025. Durable goods were 1.9 percent higher than in June 2025 (+0.2 percent from May 2026), while non-durable goods were 0.1 percent cheaper than the previous year (+0.4 percent from May 2026).
Among non-durable goods, food prices declined significantly: -5.9 percent compared to June 2025 and -0.3 percent compared to May 2026. Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cocoa fat, cocoa oil, and cocoa powder were notably lower by 29.2 percent year-on-year (-5.6 percent from May 2026). Pork was exported at 25.2 percent lower prices than in June 2025 (-4.6 percent from May 2026). Milk and dairy products were also cheaper by an average of 9.8 percent compared to last year (+1.5 percent from May 2026), with butter and other milk fats being particularly low by 1.7 percent.
