Germany’s import prices increased 5.3% year-on-year in April 2026, accelerating sharply from a 2.3% rise in the previous month and in line with market forecasts. This marked the fastest pace since January 2023, driven largely by a 31.0% rise in energy costs, the biggest increase since October 2022, as prices increased for mineral oil products (58.1%), crude oil (47.5%), hard coal (8.1%), and natural gas (6.9%). Intermediate goods prices also climbed 7.8%, driven by increases in non-ferrous metals and semi-finished non-ferrous metal products (27.6%) and precious metals (49.9%). Meanwhile, capital goods prices also rose 1.5%. By contrast, consumer goods prices dropped 1.4%, with both durable (-0.2%) and non-durable goods (-1.7%) declining. Meanwhile, agricultural product costs fell 4.7%, led by sharp declines in raw cocoa (-51.1%) and live pigs (-17.1%). On a monthly basis, import prices rose 1.2%, easing from March’s 3.6% increase but remaining above market expectations of 1.1%.