German producer prices fall more than expected in September

BERLIN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - German producer prices fell more than expected in September, declining 1.4% year on year, due mainly to significantly lower energy prices, the federal statistics office said on Monday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 1.0% decline. The main reason for the dip was lower energy prices, which were 6.6% lower in September compared with the same month last year. Mineral oil products in particular were down 14.4%.

Excluding energy prices, producer prices were up 1.2%, with higher costs for capital, consumer and intermediate goods.

September marked the 15th decline in a row in Germany's producer prices index, considered a key inflation indicator.

EU-harmonized German inflation eased slightly, to 1.8% in September from 2.0% in August, the office confirmed this month.

On the month, September prices fell a more-than-expected 0.5%. Analysts had forecast a 0.2% decrease.