2020.05.2910:50:00UTC+00French Inflation Slowest Since 2016

France's consumer price inflation slowed to the lowest since 2016 due to an accentuated fall in energy prices and manufactured product costs in May, provisional estimate from the statistical office Insee showed Friday.

Inflation eased to 0.2 percent in May from 0.3 percent in April. A similar slower inflation was last reported in August 2016.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained stable, as in the previous month. Final data is due on June 12.

Food prices grew at a slower pace of 3.1 percent, while the decline in energy prices deepened to 11 percent. Manufactured product prices fell 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, services cost advanced at a faster pace of 1 percent.

Inflation, based on the harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, halved to 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent in April. This was the lowest since May 2016, when inflation was 0.1 percent.

Month-on-month, the HICP remained unchanged in May, as in the prior month.

In a separate communiqu?, the statistical office said producer prices in the domestic market declined strongly in April driven by prices of mining and quarrying products, energy and water.

Producer prices slid 2.9 percent on month in April, following a 1.7 percent drop in March. On a yearly basis, producer prices decreased 4.7 percent after falling 2.7 percent.

In the overall market, producer prices decreased 2.3 percent from March and 3.9 percent from same period last year.

Elsewhere, data showed that household spending plunged in April due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Household consumption fell 20.2 percent from previous month in April. This was the second consecutive month of record declines since the beginning of the time series in 1980.

Manufactured good consumption fell 42.6 percent and energy expenditure decreased 22.8 percent.