2017.12.2908:18:00UTC+00German Inflation Slows Less Than Expected; Annual Average At 5-year High

Germany's inflation slowed less-than-expected in December and the annual average for 2017 was the highest in five years, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed Friday.

The consumer price index rose 1.7 percent year-on-year following 1.8 percent increase in November. Economists had forecast 1.5 percent inflation.

Energy inflation eased sharply to 1.3 percent from 3.7 percent. Food price growth slowed to 3 percent from 3.2 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI rose 0.6 percent in December, which was slightly faster than the 0.5 percent increase economists had predicted.

The EU measure of inflation, the harmonized index of consumer prices or HICP, climbed 1.6 percent year-on-year in December after a 1.8 percent rise in the previous month. Economists had predicted 1.4 percent inflation.

Compared to the previous month, the HICP increased 0.8 percent in December, faster than the 0.6 percent economists had expected.

In 2017, the annual average inflation jumped to 1.8 percent from 0.5 percent in 2016. The corresponding HICP figure surged to 1.7 percent from 0.4 percent. Both figure were the highest in five years.