11.04.201909:23:00UTC+00France CPI Inflation Confirmed At 17-month Low

France's consumer price inflation slowed to its weakest level in 17 months in March, final data from INSEE confirmed on Thursday.

The consumer price inflation slowed to 1.1 percent in March from 1.3 percent in February, in line with the flash estimate. The latest inflation rate was the weakest since October 2017, when it was the same 1.1 percent.

The statistical office attributed the easing mainly to slowdown in the prices of services, food and tobacco. Energy price growth accelerated.

On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index climbed 0.8 percent in March, after remaining unchanged in February. That was also in line with the flash estimate. Core inflation eased to 0.5 percent from 0.7 percent seen in each of the four previous months.

The monthly inflation rate was the highest since March 2018, when it was 1 percent.

Inflation based on the EU measure of harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, slowed to 1.3 percent in March from 1.6 percent in February. Compared to the previous month, the HICP climbed 0.9 percent after a modest 0.1 percent rise in February.