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Exercise books cost an average of 14 percent more than in July 2021
Photo: Gero Breloer/ picture alliance/ dpa
It is not just fuel, heating and eating that are becoming significantly more expensive in Germany, but also going to school: in some cases, consumers had to spend significantly more on school materials in July than a year earlier.
Exercise books and drawing pads cost an average of 13.6 percent more, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
The prices rose more clearly than the cost of living as a whole, which increased by 7.5 percent in the same period.
According to the statisticians, "reasons for the high price increase for exercise books and drawing pads are likely to be, among other things, the ongoing shortage of paper and the increasing costs of paper production".
For other school materials, however, the surcharge was lower.
For example, pens and paint boxes as well as fountain pens and fountain pen cartridges cost 5.2 percent more than in July 2021. School bags were 4.7 percent more expensive.
Overall consumer prices increased by 7.5 percent
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German consumers have been groaning under rising prices for months.
The cost of living rose 7.5 percent in July and 7.6 percent in June after expensive energy pushed inflation up 7.9 percent in May to a nearly 50-year high.
The state fuel discount and the nine-euro ticket in local transport have recently provided some relief, but economists believe that double-digit inflation rates are possible in autumn due to the sharp rise in gas prices and the new gas levy.
"Together with the expiring tank discount and the elimination of the 9-euro ticket, the increase in gas prices can lead to double-digit inflation rates in autumn," said Jens Südekum, government adviser and professor of international economics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf.
“That is having a significant impact on the economy.
Industry is cutting back production and consumers are reducing their consumption.« A recession in the second half of the year is likely.
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