France Consumer Price Index: Monthly CPI Data Since 1990

The France consumer price index is the national CPI computed by INSEE for all households across the whole of France, monthly since January 1990. It is the index used to revalue the SMIC minimum wage, index public pensions, deflate national accounts and, indirectly, set the legal rent reference index. This Eco3min dataset chains INSEE base 2015 and base 2025 into one continuous series of 439 monthly observations, expressed in base 100 = 2025 annual average.

Dataset: France Consumer Price Index (1990–2026) · Updated 2026-07-01

Source: INSEE · consumer price index, all households, whole of France, base 100 = 2025

Macro Takeaway

Dataset Overview

Dataset Variables

The CSV, Excel and JSON files contain the following columns.

Column names match the CSV headers exactly.

Download the Complete Dataset

The full France CPI series is available in CSV and Excel formats.

Direct Data Access

INSEE publishes the index in its BDM time-series database, but splits it across successive base datasets, none of which covers the full history. The Eco3min structured dataset returns the continuous 1990–2026 series:

Direct CSV Access — Eco3min Structured Dataset

https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-cpi.csv

This URL returns the complete dataset in CSV format. It can be used directly in pandas, R, curl, or any data tool. JSON and XLSX are available at the same path with the corresponding extension.

Using the Dataset in Python

import pandas as pd

url = "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-cpi.csv"
df = pd.read_csv(url, parse_dates=["date"])

print(df.head())
print(df["cpi_index"].describe())

Using the Dataset in R

library(readr)

url <- "https://eco3min.fr/dataset/fr/fr-cpi.csv"
df <- read_csv(url)

head(df)
summary(df$cpi_index)

Both examples load the dataset directly from the URL — no download or API key required.

Methodology

The series is rebuilt daily by an Eco3min pipeline querying INSEE’s BDM time-series database. INSEE releases a provisional estimate at the end of the reference month and the definitive index around the middle of the following month; the pipeline picks up the revision automatically.

The chaining step is what makes a continuous series possible. INSEE republishes the CPI under a new dataset at each rebasing — base 1990, 1998, 2015 and now 2025 coexist, each covering only part of the history. Base 2015 stops in December 2025; base 2025 starts in January 1996. The pipeline chains the two over their 360-month overlap using the mean ratio between them, then keeps the most recent base as the reference, so the published series is expressed in base 100 = 2025. The chaining factor is recomputed at each run, so an upstream revision propagates through the whole series rather than creating a discontinuity.

Historical Regimes

• 1990–1999 — the disinflation dividend. The index rose from 54.91 to roughly 65 over the decade. The franc fort policy, pursued to hold the parity against the Deutsche Mark ahead of monetary union, delivered inflation consistently near 2% after the double-digit years of the early 1980s.
• 2000–2007 — the euro decade. A slow climb from 65.46 to roughly 76. Perceived inflation after the 2002 changeover ran far above measured inflation, a gap INSEE documented at the time and which durably damaged public trust in the index.
• 2008–2009 — the commodity spike and its reversal. The index reached 77.52 in July 2008 as oil peaked, then the year-over-year rate turned negative for the first time in the series, bottoming at −0.72% in July 2009. The level itself barely fell: French disinflation episodes compress the rate, rarely the index.
• 2010–2020 — the flat decade. From roughly 78 to 87, a gain of about 1% a year. Fourteen months over this period recorded negative year-over-year readings, and the ECB’s concern shifted from inflation to its absence.
• 2021–2023 — the energy and food shock. The index rose 10.1% in twenty-five months, from 86.91 to 95.73. The year-over-year rate peaked at 6.28% in February 2023, the highest reading since the series begins in 1990 — and one of only thirteen months above 5%.
• 2024–2026 — the level stays, the rate normalises. The rate returned to 2.12% by July 2026 while the index reached 102.68. This is the distinction the level series makes visible and the rate series hides: disinflation lowers the pace of increase, it does not restore the price level.

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Related Research

Macroeconomic Dataset Hub

This dataset is part of the Eco3min macro-financial data repository.

Explore the Eco3min Dataset Hub

Sources

• INSEE — consumer price index, all households, whole of France, non-seasonally adjusted. Datasets IPC-2015 and IPC-2025, retrieved from the INSEE BDM time-series database.
• Reuse: INSEE public statistics may be reused, including commercially, subject to acknowledgement of the source and preservation of the integrity of the information.

Dataset Reference

Eco3min Research. (2026). France Consumer Price Index (1990–2026). Source: INSEE.<br> https://eco3min.fr/en/france-consumer-price-index-dataset/