France Taux d'inflation

The annual inflation rate in France edged down to 3% in February 2024 from 3.1% in the previous month, revising higher than preliminary estimates of 2.9%. It was the lowest reading since January 2022, as food inflation continued to slow (3.6% vs 5.7% in January), particularly fresh products (0.4% vs 7.9%), while prices also eased further for manufactured products (0.4% vs 0.7%), and services (3.1% vs 3.2%). Conversely, costs rose faster for energy (4.3% vs 1.9%), and tobacco (18.7% vs 16.8%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices advanced 0.8%, the largest growth since August 2023 and reversing a 0.2% fall in January, mainly prompted by a sharp acceleration in energy prices, mostly electricity costs and petroleum products. Considering the EU-harmonised index, the CPI rose 3.2% on the year and 0.9% on the month.