German wholesale price rise slows in October

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's wholesale prices grew in October at their slowest rate since the start of the war in Ukraine, rising 17.4% year on year, although the cost of many raw materials and intermediate products remained high, according to data released on Tuesday.

Wholesale prices had risen by 19.9% year on year in September.

In April, after Russia's invasion of its neighbour sent raw material prices sky high, wholesale prices rose by 23.8% on the year - their sharpest increase since the statistics series began in 1962.

The main driver of the price increases in October was a 41.5% year-on-year rise in the price of wholesale petroleum products, the office said.

On the previous month, wholesale prices fell by 0.6% in October, partly because petroleum products became cheaper to buy, the federal statistics office said. In September, wholesale prices were up 1.6% month on month.

The office offers more detailed economic data on its website.

(Reporting by Rene Wagner and Rachel More; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Miranda Murray)