France: Inflation picks up in March from February
Latest reading: Harmonized consumer prices were up 2.0% on a year-on-year basis in March, following a 1.1% rise in the prior month. March’s reading was the strongest since August 2024.
Relative to the previous month’s data, there were higher price pressures for transportation (+5.3% on a year-on-year basis vs 0.0% in February) and housing and utilities (+1.2% vs +0.4% in February). In contrast, there were reduced price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.9% vs +2.1% in February), recreation (+0.3% vs +0.7% in February) and restaurants and hotels (+2.2% vs +2.3% in February).
Meanwhile, consumer prices increased 1.7% in annual terms in March, following a 0.9% increase in the prior month.
Finally, harmonized consumer prices increased 1.10% in March on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.71% increase in the prior month.