#SAVINGS & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
"When purchasing power falls, people tighten their belts." In the second quarter of 2026, French households' purchasing power fell 0.6% per consumption unit — and their spending rose 0.3%.
Published on September 17, 2026 · to be rechecked on November 27, 2026
Insee's quarterly national accounts describe a quarter in which household gross disposable income still rose in cash terms (+0.5%), but consumer prices rose faster (+1.0%). Purchasing power per consumption unit therefore fell 0.6%, after -0.2%. Over the same period household consumption rebounded by 0.3%, after -0.3%. The adjustment did not come out of spending but out of saving: the saving ratio dropped to 17.2% of gross disposable income, after 17.9%.
Does a household losing purchasing power spend less?
Not this quarter: consumption rose 0.3% and it was the saving ratio that absorbed the shock, from 17.9% to 17.2%.
In other words: saving acts as the shock absorber long before consumption gives way.
Five caveats that belong with the number
- These are quarterly figures, seasonally adjusted and revisable: in the same release Insee revised the quarter's growth down by 0.2 point.
- A saving ratio of 17.2% is still high: the fall brings it back towards its pre-2020 normal, it does not push households into the red.
- Purchasing power fell because prices accelerated, not because incomes dropped: gross disposable income rose 0.5%.
- This is a national average: it says nothing about the distribution, nor about households with no savings to draw on.
- The financial saving ratio — the share actually invested — also fell: 8.5% after 9.1%.
Why it still matters: a quarter of resilient consumption is no proof that households are doing well: it may simply mean they are drawing on their savings.
For you
- Would you have bet on consumption rising or falling this quarter?
- How long can savings absorb a fall in purchasing power?
Source: Insee, Quarterly national accounts, second quarter 2026, Informations rapides no. 212, 28 August 2026.
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