Paris, Mar 16 (IANS): The year-on-year consumer price index (CPI) in France grew by 6.3 per cent in February, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said.

"This increase in inflation resulted from an acceleration in prices of food, services, and manufactured goods," the INSEE noted in its monthly report on Wednesday. France's CPI increased 6 per cent in January from a year ago, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the report, food prices rose by 14.8 per cent in February, with prices of fresh products increased more noticeable than in the previous month, it said.

Although service and manufactured goods prices both rose in February, the increase of energy prices slowed down, the INSEE said.

"The surge of petroleum product prices decelerated sharply due to the slowdown in prices surges of diesel, petrol, and liquid fuels," the institute added.

However, electricity price surged by 10.1 per cent, remarkably up from 3.1 per cent in January, due to the supervised increase in regulated tariffs, it said.

Earlier this month, France's central bank dismissed recession risk but warned that inflation would still persist in the coming two to three years.

France's inflation would reach its peak in the first half of this year and could be halved by the end of the year, said Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of Banque de France.