French inflation revised down to 0.8% year-on-year in October

(Reuters) -Consumer prices in France rose 0.8% year-on-year in October, statistics office INSEE said on Friday, below analysts' expectations and the preliminary reading published last month.

The EU-harmonised inflation figure in the bloc's second biggest economy slowed compared to the September reading of +1.1%. A Reuters poll of 17 analysts had expected a rate of +0.9% on average.

The slowdown was due to a sharper decline in energy prices and a slower increase in food prices, the statistics office said.

Price increases in services and tobacco were the main drivers of inflation in October, INSEE data showed.

Compared to the prior month, consumer prices rose 0.1% in October after a 1.0% drop in September.

Inflation measured by France's own consumer price index rose 0.9% over the year through October, down from 1.2% in September.

France has kept inflation below the European Central Bank's 2% target for more than a year now. The 2% target, last updated in 2021, is the ECB's ideal rate for price stability over the medium term.

Euro zone inflation is unlikely to drop too far and may even exceed forecasts, but the central bank can accept minor target deviations, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Alban Kacher in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

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