According to the preliminary report from INSEE, in March consumer prices rose by 0.2%, slowing sharply compared to February (+0.9%, revised from +0.8%). Economists had expected an increase of 0.5%. This slowdown should be due to the slight fall in prices of energy, in particular in gas and petroleum products. Contrariwise, the prices of manufactured products should accelerate, due to the seasonal rise in clothing prices after the winter sales. The prices of food and services should be stable over one month.
In annual terms, CPI growth slowed to 2.3% (the lowest value since September 2021) from 3.0% per annum in February. Economists had expected an increase of 2.6% per annum. Food prices increased by 1.7%, slowing down compared to February (+3.6%), while the cost of fresh food fell by 3.9%. Meanwhile, prices for services rose by 3% after an increase of 3.2% in February. Weaker price increases were also recorded for tobacco (10.7% vs. 18.7% in February), energy (3.4% vs. 4.3%) and manufactured products (0.1% vs. 0.4%).
The data also showed that in March, 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 2.4% per annum. In February, HICP increased by 0.9% m/m and by 3.2% per annum.