12 June 2020

2020- n° 146

In May 2020, consumer prices rose by 0.1% over one month and by 0.4% year on year Consumer price index - final results - May 2020

In May 2020, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.1% over a month, after a stability in the previous month. Unchanged in April, service prices rose by 0.4%, as those of tobacco (+0.4% after +0.0%). The drop in energy prices (−2.1% after −4.2%) was lesser. Contrariwise, food prices slowed down, to +0.5% after +1.8%, and those of manufactured products edged down by 0.1%, after a stability in the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted, consumer prices were stable in May, after −0.1% in April.

Year on year, consumer prices rose by 0.4%, after +0.3% in the previous month. This slight rise in inflation came from an acceleration in services and tobacco prices, partly offset by an accentuation of the drop in the prices of energy and manufactured products and a slowdown in food prices.

Year on year, core inflation rose, in May, by +0.6% after +0.3% in the previous month. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased by 0.2% over a month, after a stability in the previous month; year on year, it rose by 0.4%, as in the previous month.

Year on year, the drop in energy prices was stronger: −11.0% in May, after −8.6% in April. It has been their sharpest drop since October 2009. Petroleum product prices fell again: −21.2% year on year, after −17.0% in April. Over a month, they decreased, less than in the previous month (−3.8% after −7.4%), whereas they rose in May 2019 (+1.3%). Gas prices dropped more too: −13.6% year on year, after −13.2% in April. Electricity prices rose by 9.7% year on year, as in the three previous months.

In May 2020, food prices slightly slowed down, after the sharp acceleration in the previous month: + 3.5% year on year after +3.7% in April and +1.9% in March. The prices of fresh produces were less dynamic (+17.3% year on year after +17.8%). Those of fresh vegetables (+24.8% year on year after +30.3%) and fresh fish (+10.3% after +19.0%) slowed down, whereas those of fresh fruits were higher (+18.0% year on year after +10.8%).

Excluding fresh produces, food prices also slowed down, to +1.2% year on year after +1.4% in the previous month. The prices of milk, cheese and eggs edged down by 0.2% year on year after +0.1%. Those of flours and other cereals (−2.0% after −1.6%) and of oils and fats (−0.4% after −0.3%) dropped more and those of alcoholic beverages slowed down (+0.3% year on year after +0.5%). Contrariwise, the prices of rice (+0.7% year on year after −0.3%) and sugar (+0.8% after −0.3%) rebounded, and those of preserved fruit and fruit-based products gathered pace (+1.1% after +0.5%).

Year on year, manufactured product prices dropped by 0.7%, after −0.5% in the previous month. The drop in clothing and footwear prices was more pronounced than that in the previous month (−2.7% year on year after −0.9%). The prices of “other manufactured products” barely rose: +0.1% year on year after a stability in the previous month. The prices of small electric household appliances rebounded (+0.4% after −1.8%) and the drop in those of cleaning products was lesser (−0.6% year on year −0.9%). Contrariwise, the prices of glassware, tableware and household utensils slowed down (+0.6% year on year after +1.3%) and those of the articles for personal hygiene, wellness and beauty products dropped more (−2.5% year on year after −1.3%). Finally, health product prices dropped by 2.1% year on year, after −2.4% in April.

Year on year, service prices sharply accelerated in May, after a marked slowdown in April: +1.2% after +0.6%. Communication service prices rebounded (+1.6% year on year after −1.0%). Strongly affected by the lockdown measures, transport service prices recovered in May (+0.8% year on year after −6.0%, in the wake of airfares (+4.5% year on year after −12.6%). The prices of “other services”, whose consumption has been severely limited by the lockdown measures, gathered pace, to +1.6% year on year after +1.4%. Contrariwise, the prices of housing-related services were a little less dynamic (+0.2% year on year after +0.3%). Finally, health service prices rose by 0.4% year on year, as in the previous month.

Compared with the provisional estimates published on May 29, 2020, the month-on-month change in the CPI was up by 0.1points, those month-on-month in the HICP and year-on-year in the CPI and in the HICP by 0.2points.