Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
This indicator is part of the overall STS indicator system, which supports business cycle observation. The producer price index of industrial products aims to show the evolution of output prices for goods manufactured in Germany and destined for the domestic market or for export.
3.2. Classification system
NACE Rev. 2.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Activities related to domestic sales cover the NACE Sections B to D, Division 36 of NACE Rev. 2. Fission products, shipbuilding, aircraft industry, defense production and some types of civil engineering as well as some types of other goods with insignificant weights are not covered by the output price index.
Activities related to non-domestic sales cover the NACE Sections A to D and Groups 35.1 of NACE Rev. 2. Fission products, shipbuilding, aircraft industry, defense production and some types of civil engineering as well as some types of other goods with insignificant weights are not covered by the export price index.
Size classes cover all units employing 20 persons or more are included in the reference population (domestic sales) and all units with export value more than 500,000 Euro are included in the reference population (non-domestic sales).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The basic information collected is the output price (domestic market) or export price (non-domestic market) excluding VAT. The producer price index of industrial products reflects the development of output prices for exports and goods manufactured in Germany for the domestic market. Variables, definitions and frequency of data compilation correspond with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of 27 November 2019 in conjunction with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.
3.5. Statistical unit
Observation units are enterprises and reporting units are kind of activity units of the NACE Sections defined above producing and selling industrial goods in the domestic market or exporting industrial goods to the non-domestic market.
3.6. Statistical population
Contract prices on products exported (non-domestic market) or produced and sold within Germany (domestic market).
3.7. Reference area
Country as a whole.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Domestic sales:
Since January 1976 (monthly data).
Since 1949 (data on annual averages).
Non-domestic sales:
Since 1954.
Output prices (domestic and non-domestic sales):
Since January 1995.
3.9. Base period
2021 = 100
Index as result of survey on prices.
Month.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The laws regulating the collection, treatment and dissemination of statistical data are the Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of 27 November 2019 in conjunction with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 as well as the German Federal Statistics Act (1987) and the law on price statistics (PreisStatG of 1958).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data sent to Eurostat may contain confidential data to compile the European aggregate.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Confidentiality is guaranteed by section 16 of the Federal Statistics Act. It requires that respondents must be informed about their rights and obligations in providing statistical information. This rule is strictly followed. It also applies to the notification that individual data are only used for statistical purposes and - subject to protection procedures - for scientific purposes.
Furthermore, Chapter V “Statistical Confidentiality” of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council applies.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
As regards the confidentiality of data, methods of primary and secondary confidentiality checking have been developed and are being used.
8.1. Release calendar
A release calendar containing the precise release dates for the reference periods for the current year is published on the website of destatis.
Indices are simultaneously released to all parties. The data are available at the database “GENESIS-Online” for all users at the same time.
Identification of internal government access to data before release in accordance with Principle 6.7 of the European Statistics Code of Practice: The German Central Bank gets internal access to data one day before press release.
Data is transmitted monthly to Eurostat one day before national dissemination.
Monthly.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Press releases concerning the producer price index (domestic market) are published by destatis. The producer price index (non-domestic market) is published as export price index along with import price index:
Indices are also published at the time series database “GENESIS-Online”.
All available price indices of domestic sales including product groups at different levels (CPA 2008 and PRODCOM 2009) are published.
Indices of non-domestic sales are published for selected products and product groups on different levels, i.e. the national derivation of the classification of products by activity (CPA 2008) and the classification of food and industrial products (EGW 2002).
Standardised quality reports are published on the website of Destatis (see "10.6")
11.1. Quality assurance
The data of German official statistics enjoy a reputation of high reliability in Germany and abroad. Destatis has committed itself to assure and further enhance the level of quality already attained. In order to achieve this task – also in the ESS – the activities of destatis are based on quality guidelines. To assure quality in the long term, destatis applies a variety of systematic quality assurance measures, among others the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Destatis checks price reports from reporting units in terms of the completeness of reports as well as the plausibility of data provided. Furthermore, the same quality management procedures are applied to the calculated indices. Missing price reports are extrapolated with suitable methods which are further explained in section 13.3.
Additionally, producer price statistics are often used in price escalation clauses. Thus, they are intensively used and trusted by contracting partners.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Major users of producer price statistics are the European Commission (Eurostat) as well as the European Central Bank at the international level and the Federal Government, i.e. the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as well as the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the German Central Bank, business associations and interest groupings of various industrial branches at the national level.
In addition, producer price statistics are intensively used by contracting partners in price escalation clauses. Producer price indices are also internally used as they are included in the national accounts calculations of destatis and the statistical offices of the Länder.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Destatis conducts user satisfaction surveys in various sectors of statistics. The Statistical Advisory Committee (Statistischer Beirat) represents the interests of the users of federal statistics and regularly consults with destatis.
Additionally, user satisfaction is measured by the number of monthly visits on specialized publications on the website of destatis, quarterly downloads from the on-line database “GENESIS” and the number of external queries via the costumer management system.
12.3. Completeness
STS requirements according to EU regulations and national laws are fulfilled.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Producer price index figures are very rarely revised. First releases are highly reliable. Results are normally final for the respective reference month with the first release. Choosing a more recent base year leads to slight revision-related differences due to new calculation bases (i.e. basket of goods, weighting pattern, sample of reporting units).
In the case of non-response the price is estimated by well-defined compensation methods and the price representative is replaced as soon as possible.
13.2. Sampling error
Sampling errors cannot be quantified because the sample is not based on random sampling. However, the method of purposive sampling used in drawing the sample allows achieving a high degree of representativeness. It is ensured that leading companies in market segments are included in the sample.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Response of the surveyed units is obligatory. Otherwise, fines can be imposed up to EUR 5,000.
Unit non-response:
In the case of non-response (e.g. because of shut-down or restructuring of the enterprise, change in the product range, etc.) the prices are extrapolated with suitable updating indicators (e.g. average price trend of the relevant item or of a higher aggregate) and the price representative is replaced as soon as possible.
Item non-response:
This type of error especially includes incorrect or inaccurate data of the responding enterprises as well as non-response. Incorrect or inaccurate data are corrected by data editing and by direct queries with the enterprises in the current reference month. Plausibility checks focus on validating the relevant price trend.
Imputation methods:
Prices of goods which are temporarily not sold are carried forward using suitable methods.
The average size-weighted unit response rate in 2024 is 93,41%.
14.1. Timeliness
Domestic sales:
Results are published around 20 days after the end of the reference month. The prices collected refer to the 15th day of the reference month.
Non-domestic sales and PPI total:
Results are published around 25 days after the end of the reference month. The collected prices refer to the average of the reference month.
14.2. Punctuality
All publication deadlines are met.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Consistent time series of the recent base year are available since 1991 since Germany is covered as a whole. Earlier periods refer to the former territory of the Federal Republic of Germany only.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The Laspeyres concept applied to producer price statistics is based on the principle that calculation bases are constant (basket of goods, sample of reporting units, sample of price representatives, weighting pattern). In theory, this ensures the comparability of the calculated indices within a base period.
Price indices for different base periods are often chain-linked to form long-time index series. Due to the introduction of new weighting schemes and methodological changes in the course of implementing a new base year, the long time series of producer price indices are comparable to a limited extent. A particular problem regarding comparability between different base periods is changes in the underlying classifications.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
There are no comparable or adequate benchmark figures which could be used to check cross domain coherence.
However, National Accounts (NA) have the task to provide a quantitative overall picture of economic activity in a national economy as comprehensive, clear, sufficiently structured as possible for a certain period of time. This also includes the representation of the real gross added value of the industrial sector in the economic area. For the deflation of production values in the industrial sector, NA often use PPIs or subindices, respectively, for individual results. However, PPIs are not available for certain industries. The delimitation of the scope of the existing PPIs essentially follows the definition of the production values in the National Accounts. NA fill gaps in the PPIs through their own estimates. The PPIs and the corresponding deflators of the National Accounts thus differ on the basis of the different index concepts.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The producer price index for domestic market as well as the producer price index for non-domestic market is internally coherent. Methodical differences between both indices are explained above.
At Destatis 15.5 persons work on methodical preparation, conducting the survey, processing, calculation, evaluation and publication.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The general revision policy adopted by destatis covers routine revisions, major revisions and non-scheduled revisions. It is found under the following website:
The national revision policy is the same as for Eurostat data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
As no temporary results are published, no revisions are carried out regularly (MAR=MR=0).
The last major revision took place when 2021 was introduced as base year which resulted in new computations of the indices. Furthermore, the samples of reporting units as well as of price representatives are fundamentally reviewed.
Users are informed about the upcoming rebasing at least three months in advance. Documentation of rebasing is further given in "Wirtschaft und Statistik". Destatis also publishes the rebased figures on its website.
Publication errors are corrected in accordance with the general destatis policy on non-scheduled revisions which deals with publication errors.
18.1. Source data
Data on prices and values of price determining characteristics are usually collected via statistical surveys.
The frame on which the source is based is the national business register, production and turnover statistics and foreign trade statistic.
Generally, collection of data is carried out through a targeted sample. The sample normally represents more than 60% of the domestic output for each observed product. Units with less than 20 employed persons are normally excluded (domestic sales). The sampling method is not formalized. A judicious selection depending on the value of domestic output or exports is performed.
Units with an export value less than EUR 500,000 per year are excluded from the reference source (non-domestic sales).
A fundamental revision of the samples is carried out every five years. The new samples serve for rotation of respondents and permanent adjustments due to the necessity of replacements forced by changes in the market structures.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected monthly.
18.3. Data collection
Specific web-based questionnaires for statistics of producer prices are used. They include a data checking process during the input process. Reporting via electronic media (internet) is obligatory. Missing responses are requested by telephone or postal reminders.
18.4. Data validation
Plausibility checks are performed on single price observations and on aggregations of price indices.
A distinction can be made at two different stages. First, the reported price must appear logic within the price series itself. At this stage, the information of the individual dataset is validated. Second, the development of the price representatives is to be considered in the framework of a larger group of similar products. At this stage, validation of individual data only takes place after all individual price reports have been received.
The price series of a basket item are compared and automatically examined by specific criteria. In the case of discretionary or obligatory errors in individual reports, specific processing is carried out by destatis. Discretionary errors do not necessarily make processing necessary whereas obligatory errors always result in an adjustment.
18.5. Data compilation
Estimates for non-response base on imputation techniques (e.g. estimation with price evolution of similar products) which are described in more detail in section 13.3.
Estimates for grossing-up to population levels are not applicable.
The type of indices is Carli (elementary indices) and Laspeyres (aggregated indices) which is rebased in general every five years.
The method of weighting and chaining requires four stages for domestic sales and three stages for non-domestic sales. For domestic sales, first, for each price representative (product at the 9-digit level of national version of CPA for one observation unit) a simple index (price relative) is compiled as a ratio of the current price and the average price in the base year. Second, for each product at the 9-digit level of national version of CPA an elementary index is compiled as an average of the simple indices compiled at stage 1. For the majority of products an unweighted average is used (Carli-Index). Market shares (in terms of turnover) of the observation units are used as weights. Third, elementary indices compiled at stage 2 are combined to aggregate indices up to the CPA-4-digit level using fixed weights (base year 2021). These weights represent the share of each product at the 9-digit level in terms of production for sale. This information is derived from the PRODCOM-survey of the base year. Fourth, starting from the 4-digit level the weights represent the domestic turnover of industries. These weights are derived from the survey of local units in mining and manufacturing and from survey of enterprises in energy and water supply. Weighted indices are compiled for all levels of NACE Rev. 2 and MIGS.
For non-domestic sales, first, for each price representative (product at the 6- or 8-digit level of national version of CPA for one observation unit) a simple index (price relative) is compiled as a ratio of the current price and the average price in the base year. Second, for each product at the 6- or 8-digit level of national version of CPA an elementary index is compiled as an average of the simple indices compiled at stage 1 (Carli-Index). Third, elementary indices compiled at stage 2 are combined to aggregate indices up to the CPA/NACE-2-digit level using fixed weights (base year 2021). These weights represent the export share of each product. A distinction is made for exports in the euro area and the non-euro area. This information is derived from the foreign trade statistics survey of the base year.
The price indices for domestic sales and exports are weighted together according to the domestic turnover and external turnover of the branches.
18.6. Adjustment
No adjustment.
No further comments.
This indicator is part of the overall STS indicator system, which supports business cycle observation. The producer price index of industrial products aims to show the evolution of output prices for goods manufactured in Germany and destined for the domestic market or for export.
19 May 2025
The basic information collected is the output price (domestic market) or export price (non-domestic market) excluding VAT. The producer price index of industrial products reflects the development of output prices for exports and goods manufactured in Germany for the domestic market. Variables, definitions and frequency of data compilation correspond with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of 27 November 2019 in conjunction with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197.
Observation units are enterprises and reporting units are kind of activity units of the NACE Sections defined above producing and selling industrial goods in the domestic market or exporting industrial goods to the non-domestic market.
Contract prices on products exported (non-domestic market) or produced and sold within Germany (domestic market).
Country as a whole.
Month.
Producer price index figures are very rarely revised. First releases are highly reliable. Results are normally final for the respective reference month with the first release. Choosing a more recent base year leads to slight revision-related differences due to new calculation bases (i.e. basket of goods, weighting pattern, sample of reporting units).
In the case of non-response the price is estimated by well-defined compensation methods and the price representative is replaced as soon as possible.
Index as result of survey on prices.
Estimates for non-response base on imputation techniques (e.g. estimation with price evolution of similar products) which are described in more detail in section 13.3.
Estimates for grossing-up to population levels are not applicable.
The type of indices is Carli (elementary indices) and Laspeyres (aggregated indices) which is rebased in general every five years.
The method of weighting and chaining requires four stages for domestic sales and three stages for non-domestic sales. For domestic sales, first, for each price representative (product at the 9-digit level of national version of CPA for one observation unit) a simple index (price relative) is compiled as a ratio of the current price and the average price in the base year. Second, for each product at the 9-digit level of national version of CPA an elementary index is compiled as an average of the simple indices compiled at stage 1. For the majority of products an unweighted average is used (Carli-Index). Market shares (in terms of turnover) of the observation units are used as weights. Third, elementary indices compiled at stage 2 are combined to aggregate indices up to the CPA-4-digit level using fixed weights (base year 2021). These weights represent the share of each product at the 9-digit level in terms of production for sale. This information is derived from the PRODCOM-survey of the base year. Fourth, starting from the 4-digit level the weights represent the domestic turnover of industries. These weights are derived from the survey of local units in mining and manufacturing and from survey of enterprises in energy and water supply. Weighted indices are compiled for all levels of NACE Rev. 2 and MIGS.
For non-domestic sales, first, for each price representative (product at the 6- or 8-digit level of national version of CPA for one observation unit) a simple index (price relative) is compiled as a ratio of the current price and the average price in the base year. Second, for each product at the 6- or 8-digit level of national version of CPA an elementary index is compiled as an average of the simple indices compiled at stage 1 (Carli-Index). Third, elementary indices compiled at stage 2 are combined to aggregate indices up to the CPA/NACE-2-digit level using fixed weights (base year 2021). These weights represent the export share of each product. A distinction is made for exports in the euro area and the non-euro area. This information is derived from the foreign trade statistics survey of the base year.
The price indices for domestic sales and exports are weighted together according to the domestic turnover and external turnover of the branches.
Data on prices and values of price determining characteristics are usually collected via statistical surveys.
The frame on which the source is based is the national business register, production and turnover statistics and foreign trade statistic.
Generally, collection of data is carried out through a targeted sample. The sample normally represents more than 60% of the domestic output for each observed product. Units with less than 20 employed persons are normally excluded (domestic sales). The sampling method is not formalized. A judicious selection depending on the value of domestic output or exports is performed.
Units with an export value less than EUR 500,000 per year are excluded from the reference source (non-domestic sales).
A fundamental revision of the samples is carried out every five years. The new samples serve for rotation of respondents and permanent adjustments due to the necessity of replacements forced by changes in the market structures.
Monthly.
Domestic sales:
Results are published around 20 days after the end of the reference month. The prices collected refer to the 15th day of the reference month.
Non-domestic sales and PPI total:
Results are published around 25 days after the end of the reference month. The collected prices refer to the average of the reference month.
Consistent time series of the recent base year are available since 1991 since Germany is covered as a whole. Earlier periods refer to the former territory of the Federal Republic of Germany only.
The Laspeyres concept applied to producer price statistics is based on the principle that calculation bases are constant (basket of goods, sample of reporting units, sample of price representatives, weighting pattern). In theory, this ensures the comparability of the calculated indices within a base period.
Price indices for different base periods are often chain-linked to form long-time index series. Due to the introduction of new weighting schemes and methodological changes in the course of implementing a new base year, the long time series of producer price indices are comparable to a limited extent. A particular problem regarding comparability between different base periods is changes in the underlying classifications.
