15 July 2015

2015- n° 168

Consumer prices diminished by 0.1% in June 2015; they increased by 0.3% year-on-year Consumer price index - final results - June 2015

After increasing two months in a row, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined slightly in June 2015 (-0.1%). Year-on-year, it rose by 0.3%, as in May 2015.

In June, prices of manufactured products, especially clothing and footwear, decreased seasonally with the start of summer sales. Moreover, prices of petroleum products and food also went down. These decreases were not totally offset by the seasonal increase in prices of some services related to tourism with the upcoming summer season.

In June 2015, prices of manufactured products decreased by 0.4% (as in June 204; -0.7% year-on-year) mainly due to the beginning of summer sales. Their impact was especially strong for clothing and footwear (-2.0%; -0.5% year-on-year) as well as for household textiles (-1.6%; +0.6% year-on-year) and for travel goods and other carriers of personal effects (-0.7%; stable compared with June 2014). For the other manufactured products, summer sales had a more moderate effect: prices of furniture and furnishings were sligtly down (-0.1% in june ; +0.3% year-on-year), those of audio-visual, photographic and information processing equipments stayed stable (-4.0% year-on-year after -4.6% in May) while those of household aplliances rose slightly (+0.1%; -1.5% year-on-year). Furthermore, health product prices continued to decline (-0.7%; -3.5% year-on-year). On the contrary, prices of new cars were up (+0.9% in June; +2.1% year-on-year).

In June 2015, energy prices decreased again after four consecutive months of increase (-0.5% compared with may; -2.8% year-on-year). In the wake of declining crude oil prices, petroleum product prices diminished (-0.8% month-on-month; -7.3% year-on-year).

The decline in motor fuels (-0.6%; -6.3% year-on-year) was less marked than for heating fuels (-1.7%; -13.0% year-on-year). Town gas prices were down again, albeit more moderatly (-0.5% month-on-month after -1.1%; -0.8% year-on-year). Those of electricity were stable (+4.3% year-on-year).

In June 2015, food prices decreased slightly (-0.2%; +0.4% year-on-year) due to the seasonal decline in prices of fresh foodstuffs (-2.0%; +5.2% year-on-year), in particular those of fresh vegetables (-3.5%; +5.3% year-on-year) and fresh fish and seafood (-3.1%; +4.3% year-on-year). However, prices of fresh fruits were virtually stable (-0.1%; +5.5% year-on-year). Excluding unprocessed products, food prices remained overall stable (-0.3% year-on-year).

In June 2015, service prices grew again (+0.2% after +0.1% in May) mainly due to seasonal variations with the upcoming summer season. Thus, prices of accomodation services increased significantly (+5.7%; +2.7% year-on-year) as did holiday rentals (+2.4%; +0.9% year-on-year). As well, airfares bounced back in June (+1.5% after -2.8%; -1.9% year-on-year). However, but also in a seasonal manner, prices of package holidays fell largely between spring and summer holidays (-8.2% in June 2015; +0.1% year-on-year). Furthermore, telecommunicaton prices were up (+1.3% in June; +2.2% compared with the same month one year ago). All in all, service prices rose by 1.3% year-on-year, as in May 2015.

In June 2015, the core inflation indicator (ISJ) was unchanged (after +0.2% in May). Year-on-year, it rose by 0.6%, as in May. The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was down 0.1% in June 2015; year-on-year, it grew by 0.3%, as during the previous month.