German Import Prices Surge as Energy Debate Reopens

German import prices climbed sharply. RIA Novosti, citing the federal statistics office Destatis, described the increase as the strongest since 2022. The agency's own published data show import prices rose 5.3% year over year in April, the largest annual gain since early 2023. Either reading points to renewed cost pressure entering Europe's largest economy from abroad.

The figures were published as Germany's energy debate reopened. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the opposition Alternative for Germany, told Reuters that Berlin should end its boycott of Russian oil and gas in the interest of the national economy, arguing that cheap energy was central to past German competitiveness. The remarks, reported by Russia's Kommersant, return a politically charged proposition to mainstream discussion three years after Germany cut most of its energy ties to Moscow.

For an economy built on energy-intensive manufacturing, the combination matters. Rising import costs reduce the margins of exporters who must buy inputs in dollars and sell into a weakening global goods market, and the renewed call for Russian energy reflects how far the loss of cheap gas has reshaped German industrial economics.