For the first time since May, consumer sentiment in France, which deteriorated slightly in August, fell back below its long-term average,
reported Insee, this Friday.
This deterioration, which began in July, results in particular from a “sharp drop” in the proportion of households who consider that the standard of living in France will improve over the next 12 months.
Households worried about the future
The synthetic indicator which measures household confidence loses one point to 99, while its level was 100 in July, which corresponds to the average of the readings carried out between 1987 and 2020. In June, at the end of the third confinement imposed by the Covid-19 epidemic, the indicator was 102, after 98 in May. A worrying sign for consumption, “the share of households believing that it is appropriate to save increases again, after three consecutive months of decline” and this share “remains well above the average”, notes the National Institute statistics in its press release.
Households are also more worried about their future financial situation, even if this level of worry remains significantly lower than the long-term average. Regarding unemployment, which fell 11.1% over one year in July, fears are stable and remain below their average. Finally, the share of those who consider prices to have increased over the past 12 months is increasing slightly, as is the share of households who expect prices to rise in the coming year.