Annual inflation in France accelerated by 6.3% in February 2023 year-on-year, with the growth of food prices up by 14.8%, while the growth of energy prices slowing down to 14.1%, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies said in a fresh report on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2023) Annual inflation in France accelerated by 6.3% in February 2023 year-on-year, with the growth of food prices up by 14.8%, while the growth of energy prices slowing down to 14.1%, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies said in a fresh report on Wednesday.
"Year on year, core inflation grew by 6.1% in February 2023, after +5.6% in January ... Year on year, consumer prices grew by 6.3% in February 2023, after +6.0% in January," the report read.
The report also said that the inflation surge had resulted from an "acceleration in prices of food (+14.8% after +13.3%), services (+3.0% after +2.6%) and manufactured goods (+4.7% after +4.5%)."
Meanwhile, the growth of energy prices slowed down to 14.1% from 16.3% due to the drop in diesel, petrol and liquid fuels prices. The price of electricity, on the other hand, accelerated to 10.1% from 3.1% because of a supervised increase in regulated tariffs, according to the report.
"Year on year, service prices rose by 3.0% in February 2023, after +2.6% in January," the report added.
Earlier in March, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had announced a deal with major retailers that he said would cap prices on a range of staple foods for three months starting March in response to the soaring cost of living.
The European Union has been facing inflation and a massive energy crisis as part of the post-pandemic global economic recession. The situation has further exacerbated against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis as hostilities and Western sanctions against Moscow have led to disruptions of supply chains and resulted in a spike in energy prices worldwide.
In December 2022, food manufacturers in France asked retailers to raise product prices by 15-25% from the beginning of 2023 amid inflation and rising production costs. The Bank of France has predicted that inflation in the country will peak in the first half of 2023, after which it will gradually slow down and reach around 2% by the end of 2024.
