Financial News: French Inflation Strongest Since 2024

French Inflation Strongest Since 2024

03/31/2026 - 07:41:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - France consumer prices grew the most since August 2024 as the war in Middle East pushed up energy prices, flash data from the statistical office INSEE revealed Tuesday.

Consumer price inflation rose to 1.7 percent in March from 0.9 percent in February, marking the sharpest rise since August 2024, when prices were up 1.8 percent.

EU harmonized inflation also accelerated, reaching 1.9 percent from 1.1 percent in the prior month. The surge in inflation was fuelled by the sharp rebound in energy prices, which climbed 7.3 percent. Services inflation ticked up to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, food inflation softened to 1.8 percent from 2.0 percent. Manufactured products prices logged a deeper fall of 0.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer price inflation advanced to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent. Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices grew 1.1 percent after a 0.7 percent gain.

Data highlights a very real stagflation risk, directly linked to the Middle East conflict, ING economist Charlotte de Montpellier said.

The economist said the risk of an inflationary spiral is more limited in France that the rest of the euro area as the starting point for inflation is lower than in most other European countries.

Moreover, the French economy is characterized by a large share of administered prices and economic conditions prior to the Iran war were already weak with constrained demand, the economist noted.

Another report from the statistical office showed that producer prices declined in the home market. Producer prices slid 0.2 percent month-on-month, in contrast to the 0.5 percent rise in January. On a yearly basis, producer prices dropped 2.4 percent after January's 2.3 percent decrease.

French household consumption declined in February due to the fall in energy and engineered goods consumption, the statistical office said in a separate report. Household spending dropped 1.4 percent, reversing a 0.4 percent rise in January.

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