According to the final report from INSEE, consumer prices rose by 0.3% in October after falling by 1.2% in September. Economists had expected a 0.2% increase. The latest change was caused by an increase in prices of services (+0.2% after -2.2%), notably due to the increase in those of transports (+6.0% after -13.5%) and in particular airfares (+14.9% after -24.8%), and those of rents, water and household refuse collection (+0.6% after +0.1%). The prices also increased in manufactured products (+0.3% after +0.5%), energy (+0.8% after ‑1.8%) and food (+0.2% after ‑0.3%), especially fresh products (+2.3% after ‑0.8%).
In annual terms, CPI rose by 1.2%, slightly accelerating compared to September (+1.1%). Economists also expected an increase of 1.2%. This virtual stability in inflation resulted from the fall in energy prices (-2.0% after -3.3%), partly offset by a slowdown in those of services (+2.3% after +2.4%). Year on year, the prices of manufactured products evolved at a rate close to that of September (‑0.2% after ‑0.3%), like those of food (+0.6% after +0.5%) and tobacco (+8.7% after +8.7%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 1.4% per year after a similar increase in September.
The data also showed that in October, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in France with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.3% on a monthly basis and by 1.6% per annum. In September, HICP fell by 1.3% for the month and increased by 1.4% per annum.