According to the report from INSEE, in January the growth rate of consumer prices accelerated to 0.3% compared with 0.2% in December. Meanwhile, in annual terms, prices increased by 2.9%, which was slightly weaker than the 2.8% increase in December. The change in both monthly and annual terms coincided with economists' forecasts. The core CPI - excluding food and energy - increased by 1.6% per annum compared with an increase by 1.9% per annum in December.
INSEE reported that the CPI increase compared to December was due to an increase in the cost of energy (+2.9%) and petroleum products (+4.9%). Food prices increased by 0.6%, while prices for services increased by 0.3%. Meanwhile, the prices of manufactured goods decreased by 1%.
The data also showed that the CPI growth in annual terms was due to an increase in energy prices (+19.9%), services (+2.0%), as well as food (+1.5%). Meanwhile, prices for manufactured goods increased by 0.6%, which was twice as weak as the December increase.
The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased in January by 0.2% compared to December and by 3.3% year-on-year.