According to the final report from INSEE, in November consumer prices fell by 0.2%, as expected, after rising by 0.2% in October. This decrease is mainly due to the downturn in the prices of services (‑0.3% after +0.3%), notably those of transports (‑5.9% after +4.1%). The prices of energy declined again over one month (‑1.1% after ‑0.5%) notably those of petroleum products (‑2.8% after ‑1.7%). Meanwhile, the prices of food rose over one month (+0.4% after +0.0%).
In annual terms, CPI rose by 3.5% (the lowest rate since January 2022) after rising by 4.0% in October. Economists had expected an increase of 3.4%. This decrease was caused by a slowdown in the prices of energy (+3.1% after +5.2%), services (+2.8% after +3.2%), manufactured products (+1.9% after +2.2%) and, to a lesser degree, in those of food (+7.7% after +7.8%) and tobacco (+9.8% after +9.9%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 3.6% per annum, slowing down compared to October (4.2% per annum). Still, both the headline and core gauges remained well above the European Central Bank's target of 2%.
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 0.2% on a monthly basis and rose by 3.9% per annum. In October, HICP rose by 0.2% for the month and by 4.5% per annum.