Amazon is making its Prime subscription offer more expensive in Germany. Monthly payment will cost EUR 8.99 instead of the previous EUR 7.99 and EUR 89.90 per year instead of the previous EUR 69.

Amazon justified the price increase on Tuesday with “general and significant cost changes due to inflation, which are based on external circumstances beyond our control”.

The change applies “at the earliest when the next payment is due, on or after September 15, 2022,” it said. In the announcement on Tuesday, the world’s largest online retailer also pointed out that it was the first increase in Germany since 2017 and that the offer had been expanded in video streaming, among other things.

Prime is an important customer retention tool for Amazon. Subscriber customers get free shipping from Amazon and participating retailers on the platform, even without a minimum order value, and can also access video and music streaming, among other things. In its home market of the USA, Amazon had already announced a price increase from 119 dollars (around 116 euros) to 139 dollars (136 euros) with annual payment in February.