China News Agency, Paris, May 31 (Reporter Li Yang) Economic data released by the French official agency on the 31st local time showed that France's consumer price index (CPI) in May this year rose by 5.2% year-on-year, the highest increase since 1985. new highs.

　　The initial value of economic statistics released by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Research on the same day showed that the French CPI increased by 5.2% year-on-year in May, thus breaking the record of the CPI year-on-year increase of less than 5% since September 1985.

The agency's statistics show that energy prices continue to climb, and prices of food, manufactured goods and services continue to rise, thus boosting the CPI to remain high.

　　The data shows that French food prices are still rising, up 4.2% year-on-year in May (up 3.8% year-on-year in April), and the price increase of fresh ingredients has slowed down; energy prices soared again in May, reaching 28%, higher than April's gain (26.5%).

Manufactured goods rose 2.9% in May, also higher than the 2.6% gain in April.

　　The French CPI has risen for several consecutive months, with a year-on-year increase of 2.9% in January, 3.6% in February, 4.5% in March, and 4.8% in April.

However, France's CPI data is in line with market expectations compared with its neighboring countries such as Germany.

German CPI rose 7.9% year-on-year in May, beating market expectations.

Headline inflation in the euro zone rose to 8.1% in May.

　　The French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Research also updated French economic data for the first quarter of this year.

According to the data, France's GDP in the first quarter of this year increased by 4.5% year-on-year, and fell by 0.2% month-on-month.

Consumer spending in France is lower than previous statistics, with inflation being an important factor, restraining household spending.

　　French officials have pledged to take a new round of measures to boost people's purchasing power, which could include raising basic pensions, increasing civil servant salaries and providing food subsidies for low-income people.

Inflation and purchasing power issues are also at the forefront of voters' attention in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

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