German factory gate prices rose 1.3 per cent during January to post the biggest rise in 21 years, the Federal Statistics Office said today.
The rise was almost all due to higher energy prices - which rose 5.4 per cent over the month. If they are stripped out, there was a rise of only 0.2 per cent. Prices rose 1.6 per cent in January on an annual basis.
The figures were well above the consensus in a Reuters poll of economists who saw a monthly rise of 0.5 per cent and a yearly rise of 0.8 per cent.
In December, producer prices rose 0.2 per cent on the month and 0.9 per cent on the year.
Analysts will examine the figures to see if they provide any pointers for consumer price inflation data in Europe's biggest economy in February, which the states are due to release from Wednesday.
"The rise in producer prices was clearly higher than expected. The usual suspect was responsible - the price of oil," said Mr Bernd Weidensteiner at DZ-Bank.
"Oil prices remain the only factor pushing prices up at the moment".