26 February 2016

2016- n° 52

In January 2016, household consumption expenditure on goods rose again (+0.6%) Household consumption expenditure on goods - January 2016

In January 2016, household consumption expenditure on goods grew by 0.6% in volume* (after +1.0%). Expenditure on energy bounced back sharply and consumption of household durables kept increasing at a sustained pace. However, purchases of food products fell back clearly.

In January, expenditure on energy recovered sharply (+3.4%), after two consecutive months of steep declines. The return to temperatures closer to seasonal norms led to a rebound in the expenses on gas and electricity for heating purposes. However, consumption of refined products decreased anew (−3.7%) after a strong growth in December (+5.5%).

In January, purchases of engineered goods kept growing (+0.7%), though at a slower pace than in December (+1.9%).

In January, consumption of durables grew again (+0.6%), after a stronger rise in December (+1.6%). Spending on household durables remained sustained (+1.6%), driven primarily by purchases of consumer electronics products. However, purchases of automobiles were virtually stable (−0.1%).

In January, expenditure on textile-clothing increased again (+1.4%), after a sharp rebound in December (+4.1%). The increase in January results mainly from shoes purchases.

In January, expenditure on other engineered goods grew for the second consecutive month (+0.4% after +0.9%), particularly expenditure on hardware and purchases of perfume.

After two months of rise, consumption of food products dropped clearly (−0.8%). In particular, consumers reduced their purchases of meat and tobacco.

The variation of household expenditure on goods in December 2015 has been revised upwards by 0.3 points: it now stands at +1.0%, instead of +0.7%. Indeed, since the previous publication, new information has been integrated, mainly regarding energy, and the seasonal adjustment coefficients have been updated.