For two years, with inflation soaring by more than 10% in France, the question of purchasing power has become a central concern for the French.
Today, this massive price increase seems to be behind us.
Started at the end of 2023, according to INSEE, consumer prices increased by 3.1% in January 2024, after + 3.7% in December compared to 6% a year earlier.
This “disinflation” is due, according to INSEE, to the slowdown over one year in the prices of energy, food and manufactured products.
Conversely, the prices of services and tobacco continue to increase.
For consumers, this movement of falling prices remains imperceptible for the moment when it comes to shopping in a food store, or paying their electricity bill which has just increased by 10% or to benefit from a service.
In January, food expenses, according to INSEE, still increased by 5.7% and even by 8.3% for fresh products.
Not to mention tobacco, which increased by 16.8%, prices in services also increased by 3.2%.
Only the prices of manufactured products such as clothing and footwear showed a limited increase of 0.7%.
At a time when the standoff between mass distribution and suppliers ends, this Wednesday, to define the food prices which will commit them for a period of a year and in the midst of agricultural anger, according to the first indications the prices could increase by 2 to 5% in 2024.