The huge decline mainly stemmed from a base affect caused by high price levels related to the Russia-Ukraine war, Destatis said on Friday.

Producer prices a year ago, in September 2022, jumped a whopping 45.8%, the sharpest rise since records began, it said.

It explained: "Lower energy prices were the main reason for the year-on-year decline (this September) in producer prices.

"Intermediate goods were also less expensive than in the same month a year earlier, whereas higher prices had to be paid for consumer and capital goods than in September 2022."

Meanwhile, producer prices also dropped 0.2% on a monthly basis in September.