Inflation in Germany has again made a strong jump.

As the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Thursday after an initial estimate, the inflation rate in September was 10 percent.

In August it was still 7.9 percent.

Christian Siedenbiedel

Editor in Business.

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That was the highest level of inflation in Germany since the 1950s.

For a long time, inflation rates of this magnitude were more common in emerging markets or countries with shattered public finances.

A year and a half ago, inflation in the euro area was even negative.

For some time now, however, there have also been euro countries with double-digit inflation rates.

This was first the case with the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and most recently with the Netherlands, for example.

In Spain, inflation has surprisingly fallen below the 10 percent mark again.

Butter, quark, cucumbers and pasta are becoming more expensive

Energy and food in particular have risen in price.

More details about the price increases for individual products can be found in the figures from North Rhine-Westphalia, which are usually quite representative and have already been published in more detail.

Compared to the same month last year, the prices for household energy rose by 57.5 percent and for motor fuel by 27.5 percent.

Foodstuffs also became more expensive: the price of butter rose by 60.5 percent.

Quark rose in price by 59.6 percent.

Cucumbers were 50.4 percent more expensive and pasta 45.5 percent.

These are quite extraordinary rates of increase.

An important factor for the recent price jump was the abolition of the tank discount and the 9-euro train ticket.

As controversial as it was at first how much the fuel discount would be passed on to motorists by the oil companies, the price increase at the gas stations when it was abolished on September 1st was clear.

From North Rhine-Westphalia it can be seen that the prices for journeys by bus and train rose by 217 percent on average compared to August, and for fuel by 11.7 percent.

Together, that accounts for around 1.3 percentage points for the inflation rate, said Salomon Fiedler, economist at Bankhaus Berenberg.

The price of oil had recently fallen to less than $90 per barrel (159 liter barrel), which brought some relief.

On the other hand, the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro has increased.

Another important factor in inflation is that more and more companies are passing on their own higher costs to consumers.

In August, corporate producer prices rose 45.8 percent;

this was the sharpest increase since the survey began in 1949.

For October, many economists are expecting a further price hike when the cooler weather increases demand for heating and meets a tight supply, particularly of natural gas.

Many other products that require gas to produce, such as paper or bread rolls, could also become even more expensive as a result.

In the past, cold week, private gas consumption in Germany was certainly higher than in previous years.

What can the ECB do about inflation?

The European Central Bank (ECB) remains confident that inflation rates will fall next year.

For the average of the next year, she currently expects 5.5 percent inflation.

However, forecasts of strong double-digit inflation rates, at least for the first few months of next year, have also been heard from banks.

The ECB has already raised interest rates twice, in July and September.

ECB President Christine Lagarde has promised further interest rate hikes for the next interest rate meetings.

However, the ECB has little influence on rising energy prices, at most via the exchange rate.

Above all, it can influence inflation expectations in the short term and prevent them from leading to inflation becoming entrenched.

Their conventional influence options need more time and are not likely to take effect until next year.

In a recent discussion with economists Paul Krugman and Larry Summers, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel expressed concern that the ECB's interest rate hikes would not do much for the high inflation in autumn and winter.

Summers said: Yes, it's like an old hotel - where you turn on the faucet when you shower, but unfortunately the temperature reacts with a delay.

Meanwhile, members of the Governing Council are discussing how much interest rates should be raised at the next ECB meeting on October 27th.

Slovakia's central bank governor Peter Kazimir said he thinks a 75 basis point rate hike is at least a good candidate.

The Austrian Council member Robert Holzmann also spoke out in favor of another significant rate hike.

In his opinion, a rate hike of a full percentage point would be too much at the moment.