France’s annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.4% in October from 3.1% in September, the highest reading since December 2023, according to preliminary data from the statistics office Insee. Analysts had expected 3.2%.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, after a 0.3% decline in September. Economists had forecast a 0.2% increase.
Energy drives the rise
Insee said the acceleration was mainly driven by energy prices, which rose 24.1% over the year after 21.3% in September. Energy was the largest single contributor to the faster pace of inflation.
Services prices also picked up, climbing 2.7% from a year earlier against 2.4% in September. Industrial goods prices fell 0.2% annually, a smaller decline than the 0.3% drop recorded a month earlier.
Food inflation slows
Food price inflation eased to 1.2% in October from 1.4% in September.
On the harmonised measure used for euro-area comparisons, France’s annual inflation reached 3.8% in October, up from 3.4% a month earlier. Monthly harmonised inflation was 0.4%, compared with a 0.3% decline in September.
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Source: Insee
