Household confidence in France dropped by three points in November, as optimism about the financial situation waned, new data from Insee, the French statistics office, has found.
The household confidence index in France currently stands at 90, below its long-term average of 100, which has been the baseline since January 1987.
Future financial situation
Households’ outlook on their future financial situation worsened, with the balance of opinion falling by five points, Insee noted. At the same time, opinions about their past financial situation remained relatively stable, albeit below the historical average.
Elsewhere, households‘ expectations about their future ability to save also saw a slight decline in November, with the balance of opinion dropping by two points, although their current savings capacity remained unchanged, month-on-month.
The proportion of households considering saving money to be a ‘good idea’ increased slightly, with this sentiment well above the log-term average.
Standard of living
According to the Insee data, there was also a decline in perceptions about the standard of living in France, with both past and future expectations declining.
The balance of opinion regarding future living standards saw an eight-point decrease, marking its lowest level since October 2023, and again well below the long-term average.
Elsewhere, concerns about unemployment increased sharply among French households, rising by nine points to achieve its highest level since May 2021.
Regarding price expectations, more households believed that prices would accelerate in the next twelve months. The associated balance of opinion increased by eight points, though it still remained below the long-term average. Additionally, the proportion of households who felt that prices had risen strongly over the past year also increased, with the corresponding balance gaining six points, well above its long-term average.
Around 2,000 households were surveyed for the report, with data collected between 28 October and 18 November. Read more here.
