Household consumption up 0.3% in December, according to INSEE

French household spending on consumer goods increased slightly in December, up 0.3% over one month, mainly due to an increase in energy spending (1.7%), and despite the decline of food consumption (-0.7%), announced INSEE on Tuesday. This small increase does not compensate for the overall drop in consumption over the last three months compared to the previous three months (-0.6%), according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

The decline in food spending in December comes from a generalized drop in purchases across all food consumption items - with the exception of tobacco, which increased significantly - and consolidates the drop in food consumption in the fourth quarter of 2023 ( -1.1%). Over one year, food consumption contracted by 4.7% in 2023, after a drop of 3.6% in 2022. The increase in household energy expenditure, however, continued to accelerate in December (1.7% ), after an increase of 1% in November, driven by fuel purchases, notes INSEE.

This monthly increase does not, however, counter the overall drop in energy consumption in the fourth quarter of 2023 (-2.5%), which INSEE attributes to mild temperatures at the start of autumn. Concerning other categories of goods, consumption of manufactured goods is increasing again (0.6%), as are purchases of durable goods, which continue to increase at a sustained pace (1.4% in December 2023, after 1.2% in November). On Tuesday, INSEE also revised downward household consumption of goods for November 2023, to 0.6% compared to 0.7%.