By Xavier Fontdegloria
France’s annual inflation rate fell in December to its lowest level in three months, driven by a moderation in energy prices.
Consumer prices rose 5.9% on year in December in the eurozone second-largest economy, easing from the 6.2% increase registered in November and the lowest rate since September, preliminary data from the country’s statistics office Insee showed Wednesday.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected inflation to accelerate to 6.3%.
The decline in the inflation rate was driven by easing energy prices, which increased 15.1% in December on year after rising 18.4% in November, Insee said. Services inflation also fell, to 2.9% from 3%, while food inflation remained at 12.1%, the data showed.
Consumer prices rose 6.7% on year by European Union harmonized standards after increasing by 7.1% the previous month, the data showed.
France’s lower inflation rate in December comes after other eurozone countries such as Germany, Spain or Belgium also saw moderating price pressures mainly due to falling energy prices at year-end.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com