Inflation marked an era in May, falling to 5.1% annually, due to the slowdown in energy prices such as food prices, INSEE said on Thursday, confirming its first forecast. Consumer price inflation reached 5.9% year-on-year in April.
Energy prices slowed down in May (2% compared to 6.8% in April) attributable to the drop in the price of petroleum derivatives such as diesel, detailed the National Institute of Statistics. The rise in gas prices was somewhat less intense (21.6% vs. 22.9%) while that of electricity had no letup (+11.3% vs. +11.2%).
First slowdown in food prices since September 2021
After becoming the main driver of inflation ahead of energy, food prices rose 14.3% annually in May, somewhat less than in April (15%). “Excluding fresh produce, food prices are slowing down for the first time since September 2021” (14.9% after 15.8%), INSEE stressed, but “fresh produce prices are increasing at a rate comparable to that of April” (10.7% after 10.6%).
Specifically, while the rise moderates for the prices of bread, cereals, meat, milk, cheese, eggs, oils, fruit or fresh fish, it accelerates for sugar, jam, honey , chocolate, pastries or fresh vegetables. Inflation is also the lowest in a year for manufactured goods (4.1% vs. 4.6%) and services (3% vs. 3.2%).
Core inflation, which excludes the most volatile elements such as energy, and thus makes it possible to identify a basic trend in price variations, rose to 5.8% annual in May, after 6.3% in April.
Source: BFM TV
