PARIS (Reuters) -French food group Danone beat third-quarter sales expectations on Thursday, boosted by higher sales volumes as price hikes slowed further, and reflecting strong demand in North America for high-protein products, coffee creamers and waters.

The world's largest yoghurt maker kept its forecast for 2024 like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 5%, with a moderate improvement in recurring operating margin.

The maker of Activia yoghurt, Evian water and Aptamil infant milk posted a 4.2% rise in third-quarter like-for-like sales to 6.826 billion euros ($7.36 billion), above analysts' expectations for a 3.9% rise in a company-compiled consensus.

Sales volumes rose by 3.6% in the third quarter, compared to a 2.9% increase expected by analysts polled in a company-provided consensus.

The company raised its prices by 0.7% during the period, less than the 1% increase in the previous quarter, and less than 0.9% seen in the consensus.

Consumer goods companies including Danone, Nestle and Unilever are slowing down price hikes after three years of steep increases following the COVID-19 pandemic, as shoppers hit by a cost-of-living crisis turn to cheaper, non-branded alternatives.

Last week Nestle cut its full-year outlook for organic sales growth to around 2% following weaker than expected nine-month underlying sales growth.

($1 = 0.9275 euros)

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Lincoln Feast.)