According to data published by INSEE on Friday June 28, public debt continues to climb to reach 110.7% of GDP at the end of the first quarter. On the other hand, household consumption experienced a strong rebound in May, while inflation fell slightly again in June. L’Express takes stock.
Public debt rises to 110.7% of GDP
France’s public debt climbed to 110.7% of GDP at the end of the first quarter, compared to 109.9% (revised downwards) at the end of 2023. The country’s public debt, which has increased massively since the health crisis, increased by 58.3 billion euros to reach 3,159.7 billion euros, the National Institute of Statistics said, while the poor state of public finances is one of the central subjects of the campaign for early legislative elections.
Public debt is down compared to the first quarter of 2023 (111.9% of GDP). The increase recorded over the first three months of the year comes mainly from the increase in State debt (+44.4 billion euros), while that of social security administrations increased by 12.9 billion euros. On the other hand, the debt of local public administrations remained almost stable (+0.8 billion), as did that of various central administration bodies (+0.2 billion).
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© / Art Press
Rebound in household consumption
Household consumption rebounded strongly in May, up 1.5% in volume compared to April, driven by increases in food consumption (+2.4%) and energy consumption (+3.9%). This increase in household consumption in May follows a 0.9% decline in the previous month, while household consumption increased by 0.9% over the year.
Household food consumption follows the same dynamic, with a sharp increase in May (+2.4%) after a fall in April (-3.2%), driven according to INSEE by a renewed consumption of meat, fruits and vegetables, or even pasta. Despite this rebound, food consumption remains down 0.7% year-on-year.
Energy spending is the other main factor in the increase in household consumption in May. They increased by 3.9% after having already increased by 1.4% in April. Finally, only purchases of manufactured goods are down slightly (-0.3%), “under the effect of the drop in purchases of durable goods and spending on textile clothing”, notes the statistical institute.
Inflation falls again in June
The consumer price index rose by 2.1% over one year in France in June, a slight decline after 2.3% in May, INSEE indicated in a press release on Friday. Inflation is thus resuming its slow decline after a slight increase in May, when it had increased by 0.1 points compared to April (2.2% over one year). In June 2023, it still reached 4.5%.
The decline observed in June is explained both by a “slowing down” in the rise in energy and food prices, and an evolution at the same pace as in May in the prices of tobacco, manufactured products and services, details the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in this first estimate (Insee) which must be confirmed in mid-July.