French consumer prices up 0.4% y/y in January

[PARIS] French consumer prices rose 0.4 per cent in January from the same period a year ago, preliminary EU-harmonised data released on Friday from the INSEE national statistics office showed.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast on average an increase of 0.4 per cent year-on-year. It was the first time INSEE published a preliminary estimate of consumer prices ahead of more detailed reading.

French producer prices fell by 1.2 per cent in December month-on-month, giving a 12-month rate of -2.8 per cent, INSEE said in a separate statement on Friday.

The data covers the prices of goods leaving French factories for the domestic market, excluding sales tax.

French EU-harmonised inflation fell to a historical low of -0.8 per cent in July 2009 and hit an all-time high of 4.0 per cent in July 2008, according to INSEE's records going back to 1991.

REUTERS