Data published by INSEE showed that in January the consumer confidence index fell by 1 point, to 99 points. Economists had expected the index to fall to 98 points.
Meanwhile, the share of households who believe that now is the right time to make large purchases has decreased - the index has fallen by 3 points. The index, which reflects the balance of household opinions regarding their past financial situation, increased by 1 point. The increase was also recorded by the index of opinions about the future financial situation - it increased by 1 point.
The data also showed that the index of the share of households who believe that the standard of living in the country has improved over the past 12 months has decreased by 3 points. The index, which reflects expectations for the standard of living in the next 12 months, also fell by 3 points.
INSEE reported that the inflation situation continued to worsen in January - the index of the share of households who believe that prices have been rising in the last 12 months increased by 2 points, and reached the highest level since July 20211. Meanwhile, the index reflecting expectations for inflation growth in the next 12 months increased by 1 point, and remained well above its long-term average.