12 September 2019

2019- n° 235

In August 2019, consumer prices increased by 0.5% over one month and by 1.0% year on year Consumer price index - final results - August 2019

In August 2019, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) recovered, to +0.5% over a month, after a 0.2% downturn in July. This rebound resulted from that, seasonal, in manufactured product prices (+0.9% after −2.8% in July) due to the end of summer sales. Energy prices were stable after an accentuated drop in the previous month (−1.1% in July). Services prices slowed down (+0.4% after +1.0%), essentially due to airfares and accommodation services prices. Food prices rose by 0.5%, as in the previous month. Finally, tobacco prices were stable over a month.

Seasonally adjusted, consumer prices barely increased: +0.1% over a month, as in July.

Year on year, consumer prices slightly slowed down: +1.0% in August, after +1.1% in July. This slight fall in inflation came from a more marked year-on-year drop in manufactured products prices, partly offset by a barely sharper rise in food prices. Moreover, the inflation in energy and services was stable.

Year on year, core inflation dropped in August: +0.7% year on year, after +0.9% in the previous month. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) rebounded over a month, to +0.5% after −0.2% in July; year on year, it rose by 1.3%, as in the previous month.

Year on year, manufactured product prices dropped more in August than in July: −0.9%, after −0.6%. This accentuated decline came from a downturn in clothing and footwear prices after a rebound in the previous month (−1.4% after +0.3%). The prices in “other manufactured products” prices fell by 0.4% year on year after −0.3% in July: the new motor cars prices sharply dropped (−1.1% after −0.5%), whereas those of glassware, tableware and household utensils gathered pace (+1.7% after +0.8%) and those of personal effects rebounded (+0.6% after −0.1%). Finally, the drop in health product prices was attenuated (−2.9% after −3.2%).

In August 2019, food prices rose by 3.1% year on year, after +3.0% in July. Those of fresh products were more dynamic than in the previous month (+8.5% year on year after +6.8% in July), due to a marked acceleration in the prices of fresh vegetables (+16.8% after +10.6%) and a rebound in those of fresh fruits (+1.0% after −0.5%). Excluding fresh products, food prices rose at a pace near to that in the previous months (+2.2% year on year after +2.3%).

Energy inflation was unchanged in August, to +0.8% year on year. This stability resulted from an accentuated drop in the prices of petroleum product (−1.9% year on year after −1.0%) and those of gas (−2.2% after −1.8%), offset by a sharp acceleration in electricity prices (+7.3% after +5.6%).

Year on year, services prices increased by 1.1% in August, as in July 2019. Transport prices accelerated to +1.3% year on year after a slowdown in July (+0.9%), in the wake of airfares (+2.8% year on year after +1.4%). The drop in communication services prices was sharply attenuated (−0.5% after −2.0%). The prices in housing-related services rose by 0.8% year on year after +0.7% while those of “other services” slowed down to +1.4% after +1.6%. Furthermore, health services prices dropped by 0.1% year on year, after −0.2 % in the previous month.

Compared with the provisional estimates published on August 30, 2019, the month-on-month changes in the CPI and in the HICP have been confirmed. The year-on-year change in the CPI was down by 0.1 points and the one in the HICP was up by 0.1 points.