High oil costs propelled French consumer prices 0.4 percent higher in May, pushing the annual inflation rate on EU measurement norms to 2.8 percent, state statistics office INSEE said on Monday.
The rise from an annual rate of 2.4 percent in April could give the European Central Bank a further reason to hold off on interest rates cuts demanded by many politicians. It was bigger than predicted by economists polled in advance by Reuters.
INSEE said energy prices jumped 7.4 percent in the month in France and that oil prices rose 12.7 percent.
The French data opened a key week of inflation reports on both sides of the Atlantic.
"May's rise is mainly due to energy price increases, which is the result of a strong rise in world oil prices," INSEE said in statement.
Gasnier noted that the underlying consumer price index was not rising so fast, with a 0.1 percent rise in the month, and said this showed there was not too much to worry about on the inflation front apart from the problems caused by oil prices.