BERLIN: German annual consumer prices remained negative in December, as a lockdown to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections in Europe's biggest economy kept inflation pressure subdued, data showed on Wednesday.

Consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries, fell 0.7% year-on-year after shrinking by the same amount in the previous month, the Federal Statistics Office said.

December's preliminary data compared with a Reuters forecast for a 0.6% decline.

"The coronavirus crisis has again resulted in difficulties in conducting the consumer price survey because some goods were not available on the market," the office said in a statement.