According to the final report from INSEE, consumer prices rose by 0.5% in August, accelerating compared to July (+0.2%). Economists had expected a 0.6% increase. The latest change was the result of the rebound in prices of manufactured products (+1.4% after -2.3% in July), and notably the one in prices of clothing and footwear (+6.2% after -10.7%). The prices of services also increased (+0.5% after +1.2%). The prices of food rebounded slightly (+0.3% after ‑0.2%), while those of energy fell back (‑1.3% after +1.4%).
In annual terms, CPI rose by 1.8% (lowest rate since July 2021) after an increase of 2.3% in July. This drop resulted from the very sharp slowdown in prices of energy (+0.4% after +8.5%), due to the slowdown of electricity (+10.5% after +19.5%) and the fall back of petroleum products (‑8.2% after +1.1%). Conversely, the prices of services accelerated (+3.0% after +2.6%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 1.7% per year, accelerating compared to July (+1.5%).
The data also showed that in August, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in France with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.6% on a monthly basis and by 2.2% per annum. In July, HICP increased by 0.2% for the month and by 2.7% per annum.