Consumer prices in Germany were up sharply at the start of the year, partly because households’ consumption behaviour has changed in certain areas during the coronavirus pandemic, as shown by an analysis in the current issue of the Monthly Report.

House prices in German towns and cities rose by 6¼ per cent on the year in 2020. Growth was consequently just as strong as in 2019. 

The economic recovery in Germany was brought to a standstill in the final quarter of 2020, the Bundesbank writes in its latest Monthly Report, stating that this was due to resurgent infection rates and the tightening of containment measures. Economic activity was consequently still almost 4% down on the pre-crisis level of the fourth quarter of 2019.