German inflation slows in June

Germany's annual inflation rate fell in June after a consecutive increase in the previous four months, German federal statistical office Destatis said on Tuesday, confirming its preliminary estimate.

Compared with June 2014, consumer prices in Germany rose by 0.3 percent in June 2015. "The inflation rate as measured by the consumer price index decreased after four months of uninterrupted increase," said Destatis in a statement.

In May 2015, the annual inflation rate in Europe's biggest economy stood at 0.7 percent.

According to Destatis, the low inflation rate in June was mainly due to falling energy prices, which dropped yearly by 5.9 percent in June. Excluding energy prices, the inflation rate in June was 1.1 percent.

Measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP), the European Central Bank's (ECB) yardstick, Germany's annual inflation rate also fell to 0.1 percent in June from 0.7 percent in May.

It was far below the ECB's medium-term price maintenance target of "below, but close to 2.0 percent".

Data from the European Union's statistical office also showed that annual inflation in the euro zone ended its upward trend and dropped to 0.2 percent in June from 0.3 percent in May.

Analysts said the readings suggested that Germany was still under pressures of low inflation and ECB's quantitative easing had yet to achieve the desired effect in the euro zone. Endit