Paris:  According to conclusive data released on Friday by the nation's statistics agency Insee, the cost of consumer goods increased in France by 6% on an annual basis in January compared to a 5.9% increase in December.

Food costs increased 13.3% year over year, and energy prices increased 16.3%, which contributed to the higher consumer price index (CPI) rate. According to Insee, both the price increases for manufactured goods and those for services have slowed.

According to the report, consumer prices rose by 0.8% month over month after being seasonally adjusted.

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The core rate rose from 5.3% in December to 5.6% in January, which excludes goods with erratic prices like unprocessed food and energy. The European harmonised CPI, meanwhile, increased 0.4% month over month and 7% year over year.

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The Bank of France predicts that France's inflation will reach its peak in the first half of 2023 before gradually declining to about 2% by the end of 2024. As a result of inflation and rising production costs, it was reported in December that French food producers had asked retailers to increase product prices by 15–25% starting in 2023.

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Once increases in energy prices start to decline, economists anticipate that inflation will start to decline in the nation. According to its Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, reducing energy prices and spiralling inflation is the nation's top economic priority.