According to the final report from INSEE, consumer prices fell by 0.1% in November after increasing by 0.3% in October. It was the third price drop this year, but the weakest in this series. Economists also expected a 0.1% decrease. The latest change was caused by the seasonal drop in prices of airfares (‑11.4% after +14.9%) which pushed down prices of services (‑0.3% after +0.2%). Conversely, prices of energy rose slightly over one month (+0.2% after +0.8%), as those of tobacco (+0.1% after remaining stable), while those of food and manufactured products were stable (after +0.2% and +0.3% respectively in October).
In annual terms, CPI rose by 1.3%, slightly accelerating compared to October (+1.2%). Economists also expected an increase of 1.3%. This slight increase in inflation is explained by a fall in energy prices less marked than in the previous month (‑0.7% after ‑2.0%). Conversely, the prices of food slowed down (+0.2% after +0.6%). Prices of manufactured products evolved over the year at a rate close to that of October (-0.3% after -0.2%), like those of services (+2.3% after +2.3%) and tobacco (+8.7% after +8.7%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 1.5% per year after an increase of 1.4% in October.
The data also showed that in November, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in France with inflation in European countries - fell by 0.1% on a monthly basis and rose by 1.7% per annum. In October, HICP rose by 0.3% for the month and by 1.6% per annum.