France Inflation Rises to 3.4% in October, Highest Since December 2023, as Energy Prices Jump 24.1% and Harmonised Inflation Hits 3.8%
France's national statistics agency INSEE reported provisional figures on October 30 showing that consumer prices in France rose 3.4% year on year in October 2026, up from 3.1% in September and above the 3.2% median forecast, reaching the highest level since December 2023.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, reversing a 0.3% decline in September and exceeding forecasts.
Energy drove the acceleration: energy prices climbed 24.1% from a year earlier, after a 21.3% rise in September, led by gas and petroleum products. Services inflation, the largest component of the index, accelerated to 2.7% from 2.4%.
Food inflation eased to 1.2% from 1.4%, with fresh food prices up 8.0% on the year, slowing from 9.5%, and other food products up 0.3%. Prices of manufactured products fell 0.2% from a year earlier, a smaller decline than September's 0.3%, while tobacco prices rose 3.3%, unchanged from the previous month.
The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), used for comparison across the European Union, climbed 0.4% on the month and 3.8% over the year, up from 3.4% in September and above the 3.6% forecast.
The figures are provisional and subject to revision; INSEE is scheduled to publish final October inflation data on November 13. Separate figures released the same day showed the French economy contracted 0.1% in the third quarter, so rising inflation arrived alongside a shrinking economy. Elsewhere in the euro area, preliminary October readings from Germany's major states generally eased, while Spain's flash rate held at 4.9%.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Paris 的 Rue Cler 水果蔬菜店与街景（资料图）。besopha 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A fruit and vegetable shop on Rue Cler in Paris (file photo). Photo by besopha, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
