WIESBADEN, Germany (AFX) - German import prices rose 0.5 pct in April from March, and were up 5.1 pct from a year earlier, the Federal Statistics Office said.
It said excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, the import price index in April was up 4.2 pct from the same month last year. The import price index rose to 113.9 in April from 113.3 in March and from 108.4 in April 2000 (1995 equals 100), the office said in a statement.
Export prices increased 0.1 pct in April from March and rose 2.0 pct from a year earlier, with the export price index rising to 105.7 in April from 105.6 in March and from 103.6 a year earlier.
The office said excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, the import price index remained unchanged month-on-month although imports of beef were up 11.5 pct, mineral oil products rose 7.6 pct and crude oil gained 5.1 pct.
Compared with April 2000, natural gas rose 64.8 pct, pork was up 50.1 pct, poultry up 24.6 pct and bananas up 19.4 pct.
The following is a table for percentage changes in import and export prices over the last nine months. The figures are year-on-year.

----------------- Apr Mar Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sept Aug Import prices -- 5.1 4.2 5.4 6.5 8.2 12.5 13.4 13.4 11.9 Export prices -- 2.0 2.4 2.5 2.8 3.3 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.0