euroflation.

🇫🇷France inflation rate

released 2 Oct 2026 · data through September 2026 · flash estimate · next release expected 17 Oct 2026

France joined the euro at its launch in 1999. Harmonised inflation (HICP) — the EU-harmonised measure that makes prices comparable across Europe — stands at 3.4% as of September 2026. That is 1.4 percentage points above the ECB's 2% target, and 0.4 points below the eurozone average of 3.8%.

The breakdown shows core (excluding energy and food) at 1.7%, energy at 20.9%, food at 1.6% and services at 2.5%. The strongest pressure is in energy (20.9%), while food is the softest (1.6%).

Month on month the headline rose from 2.6% to 3.4%, extending the climb.

France ranks number 17 of 30 European economies by annual inflation, from highest to lowest, between Poland and Germany.

Harmonised inflation (HICP) · annual rate
3.4%
vs 2% target
+1.4 pp

Harmonised inflation (HICP) is 3.4% as of September 2026 — that is 1.4 percentage points above the ECB's 2% target.

core (excluding energy and food)
1.7%
▲ 0.4 pp vs prev
energy
20.9%
▲ 4.4 pp vs prev
food
1.6%
▲ 0.3 pp vs prev
services
2.5%
▲ 0.5 pp vs prev
France — annual HICP inflation rate, last 10 years
Source: Eurostat (HICP) · data through September 2026 · modifications: none

National CPI beside the HICP

HICP (EU harmonised)
3.4%
National CPI
3.0%flash estimate
Difference
−0.4 pp

Both annual rates are for September 2026.

INSEE publishes two inflation measures for France from the same price survey. Its consumer price indices (IPC) are published in the Journal officiel and used to index private contracts, alimony, life annuities and the minimum wage (Smic). The HICP shown above is the harmonised index that Eurostat and the ECB use to compare countries.

The main difference is health. The IPC follows the gross price of medicines and medical care, before social-security reimbursement; the HICP follows the net price households actually pay. Health therefore weighs far more in the IPC (11.8% of the 2026 basket, against 4.8% in the HICP), and other items, energy especially, weigh more in the HICP. When energy prices climb, the HICP usually rises above the IPC; when they fall, the gap can close or reverse.

Use the HICP to compare countries: every country compiles it to the same EU rules. The national CPI follows the statistics office's own national conventions.

Month by month, last 12 months
Both rates are shown as published. The difference is euroflation's calculation.
MonthNational CPIHICPDifference
September 20263.0%3.4%−0.4 pp
August 20262.4%2.6%−0.2 pp
July 20262.1%2.4%−0.3 pp
June 20261.8%2.0%−0.2 pp
May 20262.4%2.8%−0.4 pp
April 20262.2%2.5%−0.3 pp
March 20261.7%2.0%−0.3 pp
February 20260.9%1.1%−0.2 pp
January 20260.3%0.4%−0.1 pp
December 20250.8%0.7%+0.1 pp
November 20250.9%0.8%+0.1 pp
October 20250.9%0.8%+0.1 pp

INSEE publishes a provisional estimate on one of the last working days of the month and the final figure in the middle of the following month.

Source: Insee, BDM/IPC-2025, series 011814632 (consumer price index, all households, year-on-year change) · released 30 Sept 2026 · retrieved 5 Oct 2026 · modifications: none

Free reuse, including commercial, under INSEE's BDM terms and the Licence Ouverte 2.0, provided the data is kept intact and cited with its extraction date. The INSEE logo is not used. · Same data on the national open-data portal

HICP vs CPI — why eurozone inflation uses a different yardstick →

Compare with the rest of Europe on the European inflation ranking →

Frequently asked questions

What is France's current inflation rate?
France's annual inflation rate, measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), is 3.4% as of September 2026 This is a flash estimate and may be revised at the final release..
Is France's inflation above or below the ECB's 2% target?
At 3.4%, it is 1.4 percentage points above the European Central Bank's 2% target.
How does France's inflation compare with the rest of Europe?
France ranks number 17 of 30 European economies by inflation, 0.4 points below the eurozone average of 3.8%.
Did France's inflation rise or fall last month?
Month on month, the headline rate rose from 2.6% to 3.4% in September 2026.

France — more indicators