Despite a sharp fall in inflation, French household consumption growth slowed during 2025, new data from Insee, the French statistics body, has shown.
Household final consumption expenditure increased by just 0.4% in volume during 2025, a decrease from from 0.8% in 2024, even though consumer price growth slowed significantly to 0.8%, compared with 2.2% the previous year.
‘A clear slowdown’
‘The year 2025 was marked by a clear slowdown in consumer spending prices,’ Insee noted. ‘Prices fell for energy (-3.0% after +12.4%) and fuels (-4.4% after -4.6%); they slowed for food products (+1.1% after +1.3%) and for restaurants and accommodation services (+2.4% after +3.2%)’
Several food categories reported a decline in consumption, particularly meat and fish, while purchases of vehicles and household furniture also declined.
In contrast, spending on services continued to strengthen, led by restaurants and accommodation, where expenditure is now more than 20% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019.
Household disposable income
According to Insee, purchasing power with regard to household disposable income weakened during the year, falling by 0.4%, or 0.7% per consumption unit. Gross disposable household income rose by only 0.5% in current prices, failing to keep pace with inflation.
French households also drew slightly more heavily on their savings. The household savings rate eased to 17.9% during 2025, although it remained well above pre-pandemic levels. Read more here.
