The graphic above shows the movement of France’s consumer prices index of inflation since 1961. At the beginning at 1990 the rate stood at 3.38 per cent.

Post 1990 there is a downward trend until in 1999 the rate was just 0.53 per cent. From 1999 onwards the trend is reversed, with inflation rising most years until it reaches a highpoint of 2.81 per cent in 2008. What follows is a steep decline in inflation, going from 2.81 in 2008, to 0.09 per cent in 2009. Post 2009 inflation once again goes up dramatically, with the rate at 1.53 in 2010.

Inflation refers to the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling.