New Caledonia is, with French Polynesia, the overseas territory where the difference in consumer price levels with France was the largest in 2022, according to a study just published by Isee.
With a gap of 31% with the mainland, New Caledonia tops the most expensive overseas territories, just ahead of French Polynesia (30.8%), indicates the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Isee) reporting over the year 2022.
Food first, housing next
This gap far exceeds those observed in the overseas departments (16% in Guadeloupe, 14% in Martinique and Guyana, 10% in Mayotte and 9% in Réunion).
The study takes into account the lifestyles specific to each of the territories compared. Thus, a metropolitan household that maintained its consumption habits in New Caledonia would increase its spending not by 31%, but by 43%.
The price differences are explained above all by those of food products which are 78% more expensive in New Caledonia, followed by housing (+ 30%) and hotel and catering services (+ 77%). Only transport and the “other goods and services” category are almost 10% less expensive than in mainland France.
If the overall price gap is still more marked between mainland France and New Caledonia, compared to other overseas territories, it nevertheless tends to reduce for New Caledonia, going from 34% in 2010 to 33% in 2015, then 31% in 2022, while it increases for the other overseas departments.