Anyone who commutes a lot, heats with oil and perhaps still enjoys going to the theater may be amazed when they calculate their personal inflation on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.

Maybe 7 percent or even 8 percent pop up on the screen - significantly more than the official 5.2 percent in November 2021. Depending on individual consumption, inflation does not affect everyone equally.

But whose wallet are the rising prices hurting the most?

And who can handle it better?

Sarah Huemer

Editor in the "Money & More" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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The inflation rate is the average price change of a specified basket of goods from year to year.

It is calculated by the Federal Statistical Office.

Its price investigators are regularly out and about in Germany's stores and note the prices of milk, books or televisions, for example.

Every five years, the authority randomly calls households and asks what they consume per month.

However, the personal shopping cart often deviates significantly from the average.

For example, because some have less income and proportionally spend more on food, rent or fuel than others.

Almost half of their net income is accounted for by the poorest on those expenses that the Federal Office subscribes to “housing, water, electricity and gas”.

The more income a household has, the lower this proportion is.

In households with more than 5,000 euros per month, which includes around one in five in Germany, the figure is only around 30 percent.

This is shown in a study by Timo Wollmershäuser and Sascha Möhrle, both of whom are researching at the Ifo Institute in Munich.

It is similar with food.

Or with fuel, buying a car and tickets for public transport: the poorest spend around 6 percent on mobility, more than 16 percent the wealthier.

This results in different inflation rates.

In October 2021, prices for the typical shopping basket of the poorest households rose by 4 percent, by 4.6 percent for those in the middle and by 4.8 percent for the top class.

Expressed in euros: the poor had to spend 19 euros more per month, the richer ones 111 euros.

One could conclude from this that inflation is currently particularly affecting the wealthier.

But this conclusion would be premature, warns Timo Wollmershäuser.

It's not just about who pays more in absolute terms, but also who can cope better with the price increases.

"Low-income households often have no buffer when prices rise."

Low income

Because low-wage earners, according to the definition of the OECD, this includes people with a net income of less than 1500 euros, usually spend all of their income on rent, electricity bills, groceries or everyday life.

Little is left to save.

Food prices rose by 4.5 percent in November compared to the previous year, and it was similar in September and October.

Eggs cost 11.7 percent more in November than in the previous year, beef 8 percent and vegetables 5.9 percent.

And heating has also become expensive: by 59 percent, the price of heating oil has risen sharply within a year.

Natural gas is also significantly more expensive.

The basic suppliers often pass on prices with a delay, so a further increase is to be expected in January.