Household morale plunged in March in France, penalized by fears linked to inflation which reached a record level, according to data published Tuesday by INSEE.
Household morale plunged in March in France, penalized by fears linked to inflation which reached a record level, according to data published Tuesday by INSEE. The indicator stood at 91 in March, down six points over one month and nearly ten points below its long-term average, set at 100. Household sentiment returned to unprecedented lows in March since November 2020, during the second confinement.
A pessimism largely fueled by fears linked to inflation, which rose sharply in February and which should suffer in March from the war between Russia and Ukraine (INSEE, which is due to unveil a provisional estimate on Thursday, expects inflation above 4%). The share of households anticipating a rise in prices over the next twelve months thus soared by 50 points in March to reach its highest level since the start of the series in 1972.
As a result, details INSEE, “the balance of opinion of households relating to their future financial situation lost 16 points” in March and “is clearly moving away” from its long-term average. The French are also very anxious about their future standard of living: the proportion of households anticipating an improvement in the standard of living over the next twelve months fell by 21 points in March, and now stands at 34 points in below its long-term average. Unemployment fears are also on the rise, but remain well below the long-term average.