Financial News: French Inflation Weakest Since 2020

French Inflation Weakest Since 2020

02/18/2026 - 04:33:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - France's inflation eased to the lowest in five years in January and remained well below the European Central Bank's target of 2 percent, final data from the statistical office INSEE revealed Wednesday.

The consumer price index rose only 0.3 percent on a yearly basis in January, following the 0.8 percent increase seen in December. This was the weakest rate since December 2020, when prices remained flat. The statistical office confirmed the estimate published on February 3.

Similarly, EU harmonized inflation softened to 0.4 percent, as estimated, from 0.7 percent in December. The harmonized rate was also the weakest since December 2020.

At the same time, core inflation hit 0.7 percent in January, down from 1.1 percent in the previous month. This was the weakest since July 2021.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.3 percent after a 0.1 percent rise. Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices slid 0.4 percent following last month's 0.1 percent gain. Both the CPI and HICP rates matched the flash estimates published earlier.

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