Europe1.fr with AFP 9:48 a.m., February 29, 2024

Household consumption of goods fell again in January in France, falling by 0.3%.

The cause in particular is a sharp decline in purchases of durable goods such as cars.

As for purchases of food products, they increased slightly in January.

Household consumption of goods started to decline again in January in France, falling by 0.3% due to a sharp decline in purchases of durable goods such as cars, INSEE said on Thursday.

In December, the indicator increased by 0.3%, recalls the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

Less 1.5% for purchases of manufactured goods

The decline in household consumption in January is mainly due to the 1.5% decrease over one month in purchases of manufactured goods.

Within this category of manufactured goods, purchases of durable goods plunged 3.3% after increasing 1.7% in December.

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"This decline is explained by the sharp decline in purchases of transport equipment (-6.7% after +4.8%), which concerns in particular new cars, in a context of tightening of ecological bonus and penalty systems, but also used cars", explains INSEE.

Conversely, spending on textile and clothing products rebounded by 0.6% in January, “mainly driven by the increase in purchases of shoes and leather”.

Purchases of food products on the rise

Excluding manufactured goods, INSEE reports a one-month increase of 1.3% in energy expenditure, already up 1.5% in December.

A dynamism in spending which can be explained both by “the increase in fuel purchases, in particular super unleaded, and the rebound in electricity and gas consumption”.

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Finally, purchases of food products also increased in January, but more modestly (+0.4% after -0.9% in December).

This slight tremor in food consumption, which suffered throughout 2023 from soaring prices, is due to an upsurge in purchases of "meat, canned fish, drinks, as well as pasta and products from the bakery.

Tobacco consumption has declined “sharply”, concludes INSEE.