FRANKFURT, June 15 - German wholesale prices rose 0.5 percent on the month and 4.0 percent on the year in May, exceeding market expectations and slowing only marginally from April levels, Federal Statistics Office data showed on Friday.
The annual rise was well above the average market forecast of a 3.3 percent increase.
The office said prices of citrus fruit, light heating oil and coffee beans showed the biggest monthly rises of 9.4 percent, 3.6 percent and 2.3 percent respectively. The price of live pigs fell 4.3 percent on the month, continuing a correction following steep rises earlier this year.
But on the year live pigs, poultry and pork are still more than 30 percent higher, reflecting past price pressures on substitutes for beef in the wake of a food scare caused by mad cow disease. Wholesale prices rose 0.4 percent in April on the month and 4.1 percent on the year. Wholesale prices excluding prices of oil and oil products edged up 0.1 percent in May and were up 3.0 percent on the year. In April, wholesale prices excluding oil were unchanged on the month and up 3.2 percent on the year.