German inflation accelerated to a 13-year high in August, according to data released on Monday, highlighting growing price pressures as Europe's largest economy recovers from the COVID-19 epidemic and companies struggle with supply shortages.

Preliminary data from Germany's Federal Bureau of Statistics show that the country's reconciled CPI with other EU countries rose 3.4% in August from a year earlier, in line with market expectations, the highest since July 2008, with a 3.1% increase in July, while national CPI surged 3.9% in August, the highest level since December 1993.

Ralph Solveen, an analyst at Commerzbank, said the rise in inflation was due to higher energy and food prices, and core inflation could even fall slightly from 2.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

LBBW economist Elmar Voelker said inflation will rise further in the coming months. "from the beginning of 2022, price pressure. It may fade, but the key question is the speed and intensity of the retreat. "

The recent rise in producer and import prices may be an early sign that the eventual rise in inflation at the consumer level will be more lasting than previously thought.

"in this context, the debate within the ECB, which is still mainly about the risk of low inflation, is likely to move in a new direction," Voelker said.

Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, said he was concerned that the ECB's low interest rate environment might last for too long.

Mr Weidmann said last month that his advisers expected German inflation to be close to 5 per cent later this year.

German inflation outpaced wage growth in the second quarter as rising price pressures caused by economic recovery and supply bottlenecks in the manufacturing sector reduced consumers' spending power, according to data released earlier on Monday. The latest figures show that wage growth for the rest of the year will not keep pace with inflation.

Analysts now expect eurozone inflation (HICP) to jump to 2.7 per cent from 2.2 per cent last month.

"We think inflation in the eurozone will remain high this year, peaking at nearly 3 per cent in the fourth quarter and then falling to 1.5 per cent next year," said Daniela Ordonez, an analyst at Oxford Economics.