In France, inflation stood at +4.5% in March against +8.31% in Belgium.
20 Minutes
compared the prices of 12 basic necessities in the same hard discount brand on both sides of the border.
This same experiment was carried out last week between France and Germany.
Galloping inflation and shortages of certain foods, particularly due to the war in Ukraine, could encourage French people living on the border to go see if the grass is greener elsewhere.
Last week,
20 Minutes
therefore went to fill its shopping cart on both sides of the Rhine.
This Friday, the same exercise was done in two stores of the same hard discount brand, one in France, the other in Belgium.
So, is it worth going to our neighbors?
With inflation established in March at +8.31% for 1 year, Belgium is experiencing a rise in consumer prices almost twice as high as in France, where inflation in March was +4.5%.
A figure which, a priori, would discourage more than one to cross the border in search of bargains.
Yet we did.
20 Minutes
first went to Halluin, near Tourcoing, to buy a list of basic necessities: coffee, rice, pasta, oil, flour, eggs, ham, Emmental cheese, orange juice, detergent, toilet paper and, for fun, Nutella.
No French in Belgium, no Belgians in France
Arriving in the supermarket car park, the first thing that strikes you is the absence of cars registered in Belgium, even though the border is only a few hundred meters away.
During the first confinement, we went to this same store and the manager lamented the loss of his “many Belgian customers”.
Inside, the shelves seem normally busy and we have no trouble finding our items.
At least until pasta, of which only a few references remain, flour, of which only a few packets remain, and sunflower oil, which is absent.
“As soon as a pallet arrives, everything goes in stride, even by limiting the quantity per customer,” confides an employee.
A 50-year-old jealously guards the last bottle of the precious liquid, unearthed among the bottles of rapeseed oil.
Otherwise,
We then go to Menin, on the other side of the border, and make the opposite observation in the parking lot: no French vehicle.
To fill our trolley, the "all comers" are easy to find.
On the other hand, the shortage is more pronounced in Belgium, particularly for flour and sunflower oil, which are absent, and to a lesser extent for rice and pasta.
As in the French store, the Belgian hard discount staff are unable to say when the missing references will be back on the shelves.
Differences on tobacco and fuel
Once back at the editorial office, the analysis of the receipts is quickly done since the totals are almost identical: 36.24 euros in France and 36.37 euros in Belgium (adding the price of flour).
However, there are significant differences in some products.
For equal quantities, rice and Emmental cost almost double in France.
Conversely, the Laundry Dash costs 8.99 euros for 16 washes in Belgium, against 8.95 euros for 23 washes in France.
On our list of 12 items, if 7 prove to be more expensive in France, the difference is nevertheless smoothed over the total.
Everyone stays in their country to do their shopping.
However, Belgians and French do not hesitate to cross the border for very specific purchases.
On the one hand, the French flock to Belgium to buy tobacco which, depending on the brand, can be 50% less expensive.
On the other, the Belgians stormed the French service stations.
If the price of gasoline is the same, that of diesel is on the other hand 10 to 20 cents less expensive in France.
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