Paris, April 14, (dpa-AFX/GNA) – France’s consumer price inflation eased slightly less than initially estimated in March to the lowest level in six months amid a sharp slowdown in energy costs, preliminary data from the statistical office Insee showed on Friday.
The consumer price index climbed 5.7% year-over-year in March, slower than the 6.3% rise in February. That was just above the 5.6% growth seen in the flash data published on March 31.
The downward trend in inflation was largely driven by the developments in energy. The annual price growth in energy moderated notably from 14.1% in February to 4.9% in March.
At the same time, food price inflation accelerated to 15.9% from 14.8%. Prices for manufactured goods advanced 4.8%, and those for services grew 2.9%.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.9% in March, after a 1.0% increase in the prior month. In the initial estimate, the rate of increase was 0.8%.
EU harmonized inflation also eased to 6.7% in March from 7.3% in the prior month. The latest figure was revised up slightly from 6.6%.
Month-on-month, the HICP increased 1.0% from February, when it grew 1.1%. That was just above the flash estimate of 0.9%.
GNA