Consumer prices rose in France by 0.9% year-on-year in October, a slowdown after a rebound of 1.2% in September, mainly due to falling energy and food prices, INSEE said on Friday.
INSEE has revised its forecast slightly downwards, by 0.1 points compared to provisional figures at the end of October.
Electricity prices fall
Over the year, prices of petroleum products, such as diesel, fell, with a more sustained decline in petrol prices compared to September (-1.9% after -0.4%). Electricity prices also fell at a more sustainable pace (-13.8% after -13.7%).
Gas prices also slowed sharply (+1.1% after +6.4% in the previous month), and tobacco prices increased year-on-year (+4.1%).
Food inflation has risen slightly again
The decline in food inflation over the year (+1.3% after +1.7%) was explained “exclusively” by a decline in prices for fresh products, in particular fresh vegetables, as well as a slowdown in prices for fresh fruit (+1.7% after 2.4%), INSEE noted.
But apart from these products, food inflation rose again slightly (+1.8% after +1.7%) and was reflected mainly by a further acceleration in the prices of milk, cheese, eggs and meat.
On the other hand, INSEE observed a one-year slowdown in prices of sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (+5.1% after +5.4%), as well as non-alcoholic drinks (+9.3% after +9.5%), also marked by a slowdown in price increases.
Prices of manufactured goods fell
Also note the decline in manufactured product prices which fell 0.5% year-on-year in October (after -0.4% in September). This is especially true for the prices of clothing and footwear products, where increases slowed over the year (+0.3% after +0.6%) as well as vehicles (+0.4% after +0.9%).
INSEE also observed a larger decline in sports equipment prices (-1.6% after -0.9%), and a smaller decline in large household equipment prices (-2.4% after -3.2%).
Service price inflation increased by 2.4% on year, as in September, INSEE noted, driven by a strong rise in communications service prices (+2% after -1.4%), while transport prices fell less significantly compared to September (-1.8% after -2%).
Prices of insurance services also slowed over the year (+2.8% after +3%) as well as accommodation (+3.2% after +3.4%) and cultural and recreational services (+2.4% after +2.5%).
