For example, in the euro area the share of low-cost countries in euro area imports has increased from one third to over one half since 2000 (ECB (2008)). This is assumed to have dampened euro are import price inflation by 2.1 percentage points on average per annum.
For Germany our own research also found that relative producer prices in manufacturing sectors are negatively correlated to the import share of these sectors (Bundesbank (2007)). This prima facie evidence seems to support the view that globalisation has been a main factor in lowering inflation rates.