2024.01.1207:41:00UTC+00French Inflation Confirmed At 3.7%

France's inflation accelerated for the first time in four months in December, as initially estimated, provisional data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Friday.

The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 3.7 percent in December, faster than the 3.5 percent gain in November. That was in line with the flash data published on January 4.

EU harmonised inflation also rose to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent in the prior month, as estimated.

Data showed that core inflation moderated to 3.4 percent from 3.6 percent.

This increase in inflation was due to the acceleration in the prices of energy and services. Energy price inflation accelerated to 5.7 percent from 3.1 percent. The cost of services gained 3.1 percent, faster than the 2.8 percent rise a month ago.

Meanwhile, food price inflation softened to 7.2 percent from 7.7 percent, and manufactured product prices registered a slower growth of 1.4 percent after a 1.9 percent rise.

Month-on-month, both the CPI and the harmonised index of consumer prices rebounded 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent drop in November, data showed.