Financial News: French Inflation Rises Less Than Estimated

French Inflation Rises Less Than Estimated

(RTTNews) - France's consumer price inflation rose slightly less than estimated in February, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday.

The consumer price index logged an annual growth of 0.9 percent, which was revised down from 1.0 percent estimated on February 27. Prices had increased 0.3 percent in January and 0.8 percent in December.

The increase in inflation was mainly due to a less pronounced decline in prices of energy and manufactured goods. Energy prices slid 2.9 percent after a 7.6 percent drop, driven by a base effect on electricity prices which had fallen sharply in February 2025.

Manufactured goods prices fell 0.2 percent after falling 1.2 percent in January, because of the timing of the annual sales compared to last year, with more sale days falling in January and fewer in February.

Meanwhile, food price inflation accelerated to 2.0 percent from 1.9 percent. Conversely, growth in services prices slowed down slightly to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent.

EU harmonized inflation advanced to 1.1 percent from 0.4 percent in January. The rate matched the flash estimate. Core inflation rose to 0.9 percent in February from 0.7 percent in January.

The consumer price index gained 0.6 percent from a month ago, reversing a 0.3 percent drop in January. The initially estimated monthly inflation was 0.7 percent.

Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 0.7 percent month-on-month, in contrast to the 0.4 percent decrease in January. Monthly inflation was revised down from the initial estimate of 0.8 percent.

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