French CPI marginally higher than expected in Dec, driven by higher energy prices

Report released by French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies on Tuesday showed that French Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) in December rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent from 0.0 percent in the preceding month. December inflation was slightly better than analysts' expectation for a rise to 0.2 percent.

Year-on-year, the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.6 percent in December, at a little faster than in the two previous months (+0.5 percent in November and +0.4 percent in October), according to the provisional estimate made at the end of December.

This slight rise in inflation was likely due to a more pronounced increase in energy and food prices. By contrast, services prices are expected to slow down a little and those of manufactured products should decline more strongly than in the previous month.

The provisional estimate by INSEE showed year on year, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was up slightly to +0.8 percent compared to +0.7 percent in November. Over the month, it rose by 0.3 percent after remaining stable in the previous month.