Inflation in France slows to 4.9% on average in 2023

First Amendment: 01/12/2024 – 15:21Last update: 01/12/2024 – 15:19

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Energy prices rose on average by 5.6% in 2023 after 23.1% the previous year, due to the “partial withdrawal” of petroleum products, the French statistics institute reported.

For its part, food prices rose to 11.8% on average, after 6.8% in 2022 in the second European Union economy. Last spring, it hit a peak of about 16%.

Although the inflation rate in December reached 3.7% year-on-year, 0.2 points higher than in November, due to the acceleration in energy and service prices at the end of the year, the trend is clear towards a slowdown.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire celebrated last December that the inflationary crisis was “behind us,” although he acknowledged that prices were still higher than pre-crisis inflation due to the cost of the energy transition.

Supply difficulties inherited from the Covid pandemic and rising energy prices due to the war in Ukraine pushed France's inflation rate to 6.3% year-on-year in February 2023, the highest level in nearly 40 years.

The consumer price index reached 5.2% on average in 2022, after 1.6% in 2021 and 0.5% in 2020.

In its latest forecast in mid-December, Insee expects inflation to reach 2.6% year-on-year for June.

However, geopolitical risks remain, especially in the Middle East, almost two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

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