Overview

• Hesse’s consumer prices rose 2.6% year over year in September, up from 2.4% in July and August, with a 0.2% monthly increase.
• NRW’s inflation reached 2.3% year over year, the state’s highest rate this year, up from 2.0% in August.
• Food costs continued to climb: Hesse +2.2% (fruit +6.8%, butter +4.7%, milk +4.0%); NRW +2.1% (fruit +7.1%, dairy and eggs +3.8%).
• Energy moved higher in Hesse (+2.1%) as household energy rose (+1.8%) and natural gas jumped (+10.7%), while NRW showed a mixed picture with electricity up (+2.9%) but heating oil (−5.5%), district heating (−4.0%) and gas (−0.2%) down.
• Services added pressure in Hesse (+3.7%), including motor-vehicle insurance (+13.4%) and public-transport combined tickets (+9.6%), as the state’s core rate ticked up to 2.8%.