French inflation at 27-month high of 2.8% in May, but below forecast

French inflation rose in May at the fastest pace in more than two years on surging energy prices, though slightly less than expected, preliminary data from statistics agency INSEE showed on Friday.

• Consumer prices rose 0.1% from April, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 2.8%, the highest since February 2024 and up from 2.5% in April.

• The harmonised rate, adjusted for comparison with other euro zone countries, came in slightly short of a Reuters poll of 19 analysts' expectations, which had a median forecast of 2.9% and a range of 2.3% to 3.1%.

• The May increase was driven by a nearly 17% jump year on year in energy prices, particularly natural gas, the statistics office said.

• However, there was little sign that energy costs, which have climbed sharply since the start of the Iran war, were feeding through into other prices.

• Services inflation edged up to 2% from 1.9% in April, while prices for manufactured goods fell for a second straight month, down 0.6%.

(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk and Leigh Thomas in Paris. Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Mark Potter)

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 3:30 AM.