Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleFrench inflation dropped to 0.6% in May 2023, the lowest since 2020, due to falling energy prices and slower service cost growth.
(Reuters) -French inflation fell to its lowest level since December 2020 in May, driven by a sharper decline in energy prices and a slowdown in service costs, preliminary data from statistics agency INSEE showed on Tuesday.
France's harmonized consumer prices, adjusted for comparison with other euro zone countries, increased 0.6% year-on-year in May, down from a 0.9% rise in April.
A Reuters poll of 21 analysts had on average expected an inflation rate of 0.9%, with estimates ranging from 0.7% to 0.9%.
The slowdown marked the lowest inflation rate yet this year and the lowest for France since December 2020 when prices were flat.
Service prices rose 2.1% on the year in May, slowing from 2.4% in April. INSEE attributed this to slower growth in transport prices and a more pronounced decline in communication costs.
Energy prices fell 8.1% compared with May 2024, steeper than April's 7.8% drop and the fourth consecutive monthly decline, as gas prices continued to fall.
Food prices rose 1.3% year-on-year, a slight acceleration from 1.2% in April, while prices of manufactured goods remained in a negative territory at -0.2%, unchanged from the previous month. Tobacco price inflation held steady at 4.1%.
Inflation measured by France's own consumer price index rose 0.7% over the year through May, down from 0.8% in April.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro, Olivier Cherfan in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
French inflation was recorded at 0.6% year-on-year in May, down from 0.9% in April.
The decline in inflation was driven by a sharper decrease in energy prices and a slowdown in service costs.
Energy prices fell by 8.1% compared to May 2024, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
Food prices rose by 1.3% year-on-year in May, which was a slight increase from 1.2% in April.
France's harmonized consumer prices, adjusted for comparison with other euro zone countries, increased by 0.6% in May.
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