Inflation also hit the shelves of school supplies. With only a week left before the start of the school year, the consumer association UFC-What to choose price rise alert. According to his information, revealed by our colleagues from RMC this Monday, August 28, this increase in the back-to-school basket reached an average of 11% compared to last year.
Among the biggest increases, stationery jumped 14% (notebooks, sheets, etc.). Artistic materials (paint, brushes and others) also continue to soar, reaching an increase of 12% over 1 year (compared to 9% from July 2022 to July 2023). The increase is also notable for scientific equipment (9%). Just like pens, pencils and other markers (8%). In its study, UFC-Que Choisir notes that “private labels are increasing slightly more than national brands (11% against 10%)”.
An increase linked to the cost of raw materials
In July, UFC-Que Choisir, noted an increase of 10% between July 2022 and July 2023. The government had even asked the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) to track abuse distributors.
This inflation is explained in particular by the vertiginous rise in the price of certain raw materials in 2022, such as that of paper pulp. However, the fall started a few months ago has not yet had an impact on shelf prices, in particular because distributors generally buy all the equipment a year in advance.
“The reduction initiated a few months ago has obviously not yet been passed on to retail prices. It must be said that distributors have tended to delay the application of price reductions and, more generally, to take advantage of the general price increase to increase their margins”, nevertheless denounces the UFC-Que Choisir.
Sunday evening, Minister Gabriel Attal promised, during an interview with TF1 8 p.m., to work on “an organization where families can, through National Education, buy school supplies at wholesale prices, to lower the bill”. And to add: “We have increased the back-to-school allowance for 5 million students and their families. What matters to me is that middle-class families, who are slightly above the thresholds, we work for them and we find solutions”.