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Inflation continues to fall in France, dropping to 3.5% year-on-year in November, thanks mainly to a deceleration in energy and service prices, according to new figures from the country’s statistical office.

Compared with October, when consumer prices rose by 4.0% year-on-year, France is experiencing a clear cooling of inflation.

“This fall in inflation is the result of a slowdown over one year in energy prices (3.1% after 5.2% in October), services (2.8% after 3.2%) and manufactured goods (1.9% after 2.2%),” the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) said on Friday.

In the energy sector, a number of prices fell, notably those of petroleum products (-1.4% after 1.8% in October) and diesel (-2.5% from 1.6%). Price rises slowed for petrol (7.5% from 13.5%) and electricity (16.1% from 18.5%).

In services, it’s transport prices particularly which explain the deceleration: they fell sharply from 5.4% to -1.4%, according to Insee.

Prices for “other services” rose at a rate close to that of the previous month (4.3% after 4.4%), particularly those for social protection, restaurants, home maintenance and repairs, and private vehicles, according to INSEE.

Over a year, the price of manufactured goods rose by 1.9% in November, after 2.2% in October.

On the other hand, food prices (7.7% after 7.8%), one of the main drivers of inflation, and tobacco prices (9.8% after 9.9%) slowed “to a lesser extent”, notes the institute.

Underlying inflation, which excludes the most volatile items like energy and certain food products, providing a more consistent trend in price movements, dropped significantly to 3.6% year-on-year in November, down from 4.2% year-on-year in October.

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), used for Europe-wide comparisons, “fell over one month (-0.2% after 0.2% in October)” and slowed over one year, according to Insee, rising by 3.9% in November after 4.5% in October.