Annual inflation in France edged up to 1.5% in January, in eurozone-harmonized terms, down from 1.2% in December 2017, and in line with initial estimates, final data from the National Institute of Statistics and Economics showed.

Annual core inflation accelerated to 0.9% in January compared to 0.6% in the previous month.

The energy sector saw inflation rise to 5.2% in January from 5.0% in December due to a rise in energy taxation, while services prices rose by 1.3% in January after registering an increase of 1.0% in the previous four months. The rate of increase in prices of food and tobacco slowed during the month.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices slipped 0.1% after a 0.4% rebound in the prior month. The decrease was led by lower prices for manufactured products due to winter sales and a drop in prices for transport and tobacco. The effect was mitigated by a acceleration in energy and food prices.

Core inflation was 0.6% in January in monthly terms, and picked up to 0.9% year over year, from 0.6% in December 2017.