At least 92 per cent of French people are alarmed about rising inflation, a survey conducted by the Odoxa group reveals. The rising energy and food prices are the main concerns of French residents, the report says. Because of the growing food prices, French consumers have stopped buying their usual, quality products, opting for cheaper, private brands instead.

The French are mostly concerned about energy and food prices and inflation, according to Odoxa’s latest survey.

Around 75 per cent of the respondents think that the country is in for even greater economic difficulties in 2023 than in 2022. Some 78 per cent said that they are „less optimistic” about the future, with only 22 per cent saying that they are „more optimistic.” More than a third of those surveyed said that inflation exceeds 12.5 per cent, indicating that they do not trust the calculations of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which registered an inflation of 6 per cent.

Faced with rising living costs, the French are forced to utilise their savings. According to the survey,

46 per cent of citizens have already tapped into their savings or taken out one or more loans in order to cover their everyday expenses.

This rate has risen by 10 percentage points since June.

The sharp rise in inflation has led to skyrocketing food and energy prices, in particular. Faced with the increasing food prices, French consumers have stopped buying their usual, high-quality products in supermarkets, opting for cheaper, private brands instead, LeParisien reports.

Quantity has become more important to customers than quality, retail expert Olivier Dauvers says, noting that shoppers hunting for the best price tend to visit as many as three stores a day, either to get their desired products at a lower price, or to stay within their reduced budgets.

In October NielsenIQ published a study on the effects of inflation palpable on supermarket shelves. The findings reveal that prices increased across the board last year, but some items are more affected by even steeper price hikes.

Overall, the price of deep-frozen meats and poultry rose the most sharply in one year. In October 2022, these products were 28.6 per cent more expensive on average than a year ago. The price of pasta climbed by an average of 20 per cent, and that of cooking oil by 19 per cent.

As the price of pulp has soared in recent months, inflation has had a particularly grave impact on paper-based products. The price of paper towels and toilet paper has jumped by 6.29 and 4.84 per cent, respectively, compared to their price in September. After the latest price hike, paper towels rank second among products that underwent the steepest inflation (+ 23 per cent).

La hausse des prix se poursuit en octobre : +9,35% par rapport á l’an passé.#inflation pic.twitter.com/yJcJwapd0Y

— NielsenIQ France (@NielsenIQFrance) October 24, 2022

NielsenIQ also found that prices increased for other products, such as butter, margarine, creme fraiche (+17 per cent compared to last year) and canned vegetables (+14 per cent). All in all, inflation affected every product in October, implying an annual inflation of 9.35 per cent, compared to 7.6 per cent measured in September.