According to the final report from INSEE, consumer prices rose by 0.8% in February, as expected, after falling by 0.2% in January. This increase is driven by the strong acceleration of the prices of energy (+4.1% after +0.1%), while prices of electricity jumped by 9.3% (after +0.4% in January), and the cost of petroleum products increased by 3.5% (after -0.9% in January). Over one month the prices of services accelerated also (+0.8% after +0.1%) and those of manufactured products partially bounced back (+0.5% after ‑1.7%). Conversely, the prices of tobacco decelerated (+1.6% after +6.5%) and those of food fell back (‑0.3% after +0.2%) due to the sharp fall in the price of fresh products.
In annual terms, CPI rose by 3.0% after rising by 3.1% in January, while economists had expected a 2.9% increase. However, it marked the lowest reading since January 2022. Prices were up by 1.7% for food and 0.8% for manufactured products. Prices of services increased at the same rate as the previous month (+3.2%). Conversely, prices accelerated sharply for energy (+4.3% after +1.9%) and for tobacco (+18.7% after +16.8%).
Meanwhile, the core CPI grew by 2.7% per annum, slowing down compared to January (3.0% 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 February, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in France with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.9% on a monthly basis and by 3.2% per annum. In January, HICP fell by 0.2% for the month and increased by 3.4% per annum.