According to the final report from INSEE, consumer prices were unchanged in February, as expected, after rising 0.2% in January. The latest change was caused by the sharp fall in energy prices (-4.6% after +1.6%), due to the fall in electricity prices (-12.6% after -0.1%), which offset the rise in services prices (+0.6% after +0.3%), in particular transport services (+3.9% after -8.3%) and rents, water, household waste collection (+1.1% after +0.2%), and the rebound in prices of manufactured products (+0.3% after -1.1%). The prices of tobacco slowed down (+0.2% after +3.8%), while prices of food fell back slightly (‑0.1% after +0.3%).
In annual terms, CPI rose by 0.8%, slowing compared to January (1.7%), but confirming economists' forecasts. This marks the lowest level since February 2021. The weaker growth was caused by the fall in energy prices over the year (-5.8% after +2.7%), and to a lesser extent by the slowdown in those of services (+2.2% after +2.5%), manufactured goods (stable after +0.2%) and tobacco (+4.5% after +6.0%). Conversely, the prices of food accelerated slightly over the year (+0.3% after +0.1%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 1.3% per year after an increase of 1.4% in January.
The data also showed that in February, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in France with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.1% on a monthly basis and by 0.9% per year. In January, HICP dropped by 0.2% for the month and increased by 1.8% per year.