Mubasher: Germany’s import costs slipped in October at the sharpest pace since over two years, official data showed on Wednesday.

The index of import prices in Germany dropped by 3.5% year-on-year last October, after a less severe 2.5% decline in September, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said.

This came slightly lower than market expectations of 3.6% drop, while it was the biggest annual drop seen since July 2016, when prices fell by 4.1%.

Stripping out crude oil and mineral oil products, the index fell by 2.3% last month, from a year ago.

On a monthly basis, import prices declined by 0.1% in October, reversing a gain of 0.6% in the previous month.

In addition, the gauge of export prices went down by 0.2% year-on-year last October, after recording no change in the preceding month.

By 9:33 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair fell by 0.14% to $1.1006.