The decline in inflation continues. It slowed further in April, reaching 2.2% over one year, according to the first estimate from INSEE made public this Tuesday. Or 0.1 point less than in March (2.3%). It stood at 3% in February and 3.1% in January. As a reminder, the consumer price index reached its peak in February 2023, at 6.3%.

A slight drop in inflation which can be explained “on the one hand by the slowdown in the prices of food and tobacco, on the other hand by the slight drop over one year in those of manufactured products” (-0, 1%), explains the statistics institute. Food inflation actually fell in April to 1.2%, compared to 1.7% in March. Tobacco prices went from inflation of 10.7% to 9%. Conversely, energy prices are accelerating (3.8% compared to 3.4%), and those of services are increasing at the same rate as the previous month (3%).

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A development in line with INSEE forecasts in its latest economic report, published in mid-March. The national statistics institute said it expected a decline in inflation until this month of April, before a further increase in inflation in May (2.6%) then stability in June at this level. Increase which would be due to petroleum products, due to a “mechanical effect of “sliding exit” caused by the falls in prices (of these products) which occurred a year earlier”, explained INSEE. “In May 2023 in particular, oil prices had fallen sharply, causing a drop in prices at the pump,” added the institute.

Such a drop in prices observed for several months can therefore be explained in particular by the slowdown in food prices. On the shelves, “the end of the inflation cycle is indeed here,” estimated panelist Circana a few days ago. In supermarkets, inflation of consumer products slowed to 0.5% between April 2023 and April 2024, indicated the firm, a sharp decrease compared to March 2024 (2.6%).