After several months of record inflation, more than half of French people are now “very concerned” by the risks of price increases, according to a Harris Interactive survey for Casino brands, published Thursday, June 16, 2022. They are also more than two out of three to have the feeling that their purchasing power has declined over the past six months. This feeling, these French attribute it very clearly (94%) to the rise in market prices, rather than to a reduction in their resources.
In their daily lives, if these French people feel this soaring price in all sectors (energy, food, hygiene, tourism, leisure), they are more than 9 out of ten to have personally perceived an increase in the price of fuel, daily energy (heating, hot water, electricity), food products, including fresh products, such as fruit and vegetables and dairy products.
As for the future, there is no optimism since more than half (62%) believe that their purchasing power will decline further in the coming months, and more than two out of three think that the hardest part is yet to come. Seven French people out of ten today have the feeling of having to make significant efforts to keep their budget in balance. A particularly high tension for the most modest, since nearly eight out of ten French people with low incomes believe they have to make significant efforts, against more than two out of three for those with average incomes, and one in two for those with high incomes.
This is why, in order to be able to finance essential purchases, more than half of French people (55%), indicate that they sometimes “often” to give up certain expenses to buy essential items. Outings to bars and restaurants are the first to be sacrificed. Next come clothes, holidays and hobbies. Note that more than a quarter of French people prefer to cut back on their activities and shopping, rather than on their savings capacity (18%).
Conversely, there are certain expenses on which the French refuse to cut corners. First for a quarter of them: food, budget on the podium of priorities for more than half of the French. This item of expenditure appears to be the most incompressible while it is also considered to be the sector whose prices have increased the most. Then come hygiene, energy and housing.
In this context, six out of ten French people now turn “as often as possible” products on sale, and more than four in ten also use coupons and vouchers whenever they can.
Harris Interactive survey for Casino brands, conducted online on June 6 and 7, 2022 on a sample of 1,013 people representative of French people aged 18 and over, and according to the quota method.