14 December 2017

2017- n° 326

In November 2017, consumer prices rose by 0.1% over a month and by 1.2% year on year Consumer price index - final results - November 2017

In November 2017, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 0.1% as in October 2017. This increase resulted from an acceleration in energy prices and an increase in tobacco prices. . On the other hand, services prices and those of manufactured goods fell back slightly. Food prices slowed down sharply due to a downturn in fresh food prices, which had sharply rebounded in the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted, consumer prices hardly accelerated: +0.2% after +0.1% in October.

Year-on-year, consumer prices rose by 1.2% in November, 0.1 point of percentage more than in the previous month. This fourth consecutive acceleration resulted from a stronger growth in energy prices and tobacco prices and a lower drop in the prices for manufactured goods. Food and energy prices increased at the same rate as in October.

In November 2017, the core inflation index (ISJ) rose by 0.1% after being steady last month. Over a year, core inflation is at 0.5%, as in the four previous months. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) grew at the same rate as in October (+0.1%); year on year, it increased by 1.2% as in the previous month.

Energy prices accelerated sharply in November 2017 after a slight slowdown in the previous month (+5.4% year on year after +4.8%). This upturn was due both to the sharper growth in the prices of petroleum products (+8.6% after +7.4%) and those of gas (+4.1% after +3.3% year on year). Electricity prices were up 1.5% year on year, just as in the previous three months.

Year on year, services prices increased by 1.0%, as the two previous months. The prices of health services continued to rise (+1.9% after +1.8% year on year). In addition, the prices of telecommunications services fell again less than the previous month (−4.5% year-on-year after −5.1%). On the other hand, the airfare slowed down significantly (+0.3% after +2.1% year-on-year).

Year-on-year, the decline in manufactured products prices softened for the third consecutive month (−0.2% in November after −0.3%). As in the previous month, this lesser drop came from those in the prices of clothing and footwear (−0.3% year-on-year after −0.4%) and in the prices of medical products (−1.6% after −1.7%). The prices of "other manufactured products" increased by 0.1% year on year, just as in October. This slight increase is the result of a further acceleration in the prices of new cars (+2.5% year on year after +2.1%) due to fewer promotions this year. Over a month, the prices of "other manufactured products" fell by 0.1% after slowing down in October. The monthly drop in prices of games and hobbies (−4.1%) and appliances (−0.7%), more pronounced than in November 2016, was partially offset by a slight rebound in the prices of furniture and furnishing (+0.1%) and those of glassware and tableware (+0.3%).

In November 2017, food prices rose by 1.5% year on year, as in October. Fresh produce prices slowed down significantly (+3.6% after +4.5% year on year): vegetable prices stackened sharply after a strong rebound the previous month (+4.9% after +11.1%) while the prices of fresh fruits significantly accelerated (+6.4% after +3.3%). Excluding fresh products, food prices rose by 1.1% over a year, as in October. The increase in oils and fats prices continues (+6.7% over one year after +5.6%).

Compared with the provisional estimates published on 30 November 2017, the month-on-month and year-on-year changes in the CPI were confirmed. For the HICP, the annual trend is down 0.1 point, the monthly trend is confirmed.