Consumer prices in France and Spain resumed their upward trend in February, driven by higher food and energy costs, official statistics showed on Tuesday.

In France, the consumer price index increased by 6.2 percent, up from 6.0 percent in January, according to preliminary data from the statistics bureau Insee.

The EU-harmonized index stood at 7.2 percent compared to 7 percent in January.

Meanwhile in Spain, which succeeded in containing price growth in the second half of 2022, inflation has now risen for two consecutive months in annual terms. Consumer prices increased 6.1 percent year-on-year in February, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reports.

Preliminary data showed that higher electricity and food prices were the key drivers of the increase.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy prices, stood at 7.7 percent year-on-year, up from 7.5% recorded in January. Consumer prices, harmonized for comparison with other European Union countries, rose to 6.1% in February in annual terms from 5.9% in the previous month.

“The increase in Spain’s headline EU harmonized inflation is another reminder that the path of price growth will be choppy and sticky on its way down, as underlying price pressures remain strong,” Bloomberg economist Ana Andrade said. “While base effects will dominate over the next few months, bringing inflation meaningfully down by the summer, we still expect it to end the year at above 5%,” she added.