15 September 2015

2015- n° 221

Consumer prices rose by 0.3% in August 2015; they were stable year-on-year Consumer price index - final results - August 2015

In August 2015, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) picked up (+0.3%) after a decrease by 0.4% in July. Seasonally adjusted, it fell back by 0.1% in August compared with July. Year-on-year, it remained stable, after a rise by 0.2% in July.

In August, the main contributors to the rise in the CPI came from seasonal increases in the manufactured product prices at the end of the summer sales in Metropolitan France and in some services related to tourism at the time of the summer holidays. Those rises were partially offset by a further decrease in prices of petroleum products and by the downturn, typical for the season, in prices of fresh foodstuffs.

Prices of manufactured products picked up after the end of 2015 summer sales. This rebound (+1.6%) was less pronounced than last year (+1.9% in August 2014) after prices had declined to a greater extent in July (-3.1%; -2.9% in July 2014). In particular, prices of clothing and footwear rose less in August this year (+9.8%) than last year (+10.6%) due to the introduction this year of an additional week of sales (at the beginning of August). Conversely, for the other manufactured products, especially furniture and furnishings and high-tech products, the effects of the additional week of sales were not noticeable, their prices having more increased this year in August. Furthermore, prices of new cars diminished due to manufacturer discounts. In addition, prices of medical products continued to fall (-0.2% in August; -3.8% year-on-year).

Energy prices were down for the third month in a row (-1.9% in August; -5.1% year-on-year). In the wake of falling crude oil prices, petroleum product prices dropped (-4.8%; -12.5% year-on-year). Thus, prices of motor fuels fell sharply in August (-4.6%; -11.1% year- on-year) and those of heating fuels even more (-7.1%; -21.6% year-on-year). Furthermore, prices of town gas remained broadly unchanged in August (-0.9% year-on-year) while electricity fares rose (+1.8%; +6.3% year-on-year).

In August 2015, food prices were down slightly (-0.1%; +0.8% year-on-year) as a result of the seasonal decrease in prices of fresh foodstuffs (-1.5%; +8.0% year-on-year), in particular those of fresh fruits (-4.9%; +8.5% year-on-year). However, prices of fresh vegetables rose in August (+0.7%; +9.5% year-on-year), the high summer heat curbing the supply of these products. After a stability during the four previous months, prices of processed food products grew slightly in August (+0.1%; -0.1% year-on-year). Most of food goods became more expensive, excepting children foods and dietetic products (-0.8%; -7.0% year-on-year), pastries, cakes (-0.2%; -1.0% year-on-year) and cheese (-0.1%; -2.0% year-on-year).

As every year, service prices grew in August (+0.2% compared with the previous month; +1.3% year-on-year), mainly those of services related to tourism, as accomodation services (+4.4%; +2.2% year-on-year), package holidays (+7.1%; +2.4% year-on-year) and holiday rentals (+5.9%; +0.9% year-on-year). Conversely, airfares declined in August 2015 (-1.7%; -0.5% year-on-year).

The core inflation indicator (ISJ) rose slightly again : +0.1% in August 2015, as in July. Year-on-year, it grew by 0.6% (after +0.7% year-on-year in July). The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) bounced back : +0.4% in August after -0.5% in July. Year-on-year, it increased by 0.1%, a lower pace than during the previous months (+0.2% year-on-year in July and +0.3% in May and June 2015).