By Maria Martinez

The producer price index for industrial products in Germany rose 19.2% in November compared with the prior year, the German statistics office, Destatis, said Friday.

This was the highest on-year increase since November 1951, Destatis said.

"Friday's figures indicate a gloomy outlook for the Christmas season, as the German industrial sector continues to grapple with supply chain bottlenecks and the threat of the Omicron variant," Thomas Rinn, Accenture's global industrial lead, said.

Compared with the previous month, the index rose by 0.8% in November.

The main driver of the increase was energy prices, the statistics office said. Energy prices rose by 49.4% on year due to the strong rise in natural-gas prices of 83.4%. The overall index, after stripping out energy, was up 9.9% on year in November, Destatis said.

Prices of intermediate goods increased 19.1% compared with November 2020, Destatis said. Intermediate goods prices increased particularly for metals, raw materials, sawn timber, and wood.

Prices of nondurable consumer goods rose 3.7% compared with November 2020, mainly due to increasing prices for oils and fat. Prices of crude vegetable oils were up 59.0% and butter prices rose 37.3%, Destatis data show.

Prices of durable consumer goods rose 3.7% on year, while capital goods, such as machines and vehicles, rose by 3.6%, Destatis reported.

The shortage of raw materials and intermediate products causing this increase in producer prices is expected to continue well into 2022, Mr. Rinn said. He forecasts a downbeat start to the new year for Germany's export-driven economy.

Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 17, 2021 04:00 ET (09:00 GMT)