Import prices have risen by around 12 percent year-on-year.
The last time there was such a higher change in the previous year was in October 1981 as part of the second oil price crisis.
Wiesbaden - Goods imported into Germany went up significantly in May.
In a year-on-year comparison, import prices have risen by 11.8 percent, said the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
In April import prices had already risen sharply by 10.3 percent year-on-year, after a strong plus of 6.9 percent in March.
According to the Federal Office, there was a higher change in the previous year than in May in October 1981 as part of the second oil price crisis.
There was another price increase in a month-on-month comparison.
In this regard, imported goods rose 1.7 percent in May.
The Federal Office attributed the strong year-on-year price increase primarily to the development of energy prices: "Energy imports were almost twice as expensive in May 2021 as in May 2020."
This increase is due to the extremely low price level a year ago.
The demand for crude oil was very weak at the time because of the Corona crisis.
According to this, crude oil had the greatest influence on the annual rate of change for energy with an increase of 135 percent.
Without energy, however, according to the Federal Office, import prices were 6.0 percent higher in May of this year than in May 2020 and 1.0 percent higher than in the previous month.
dpa