Informations Rapides · 28 April 2023 · n° 111

In March 2023, household consumption of goods decreased again (-1.3%) Household consumption expenditure on goods - March 2023

In March 2023, household consumption expenditures in goods decreased by 1.3% over a month in volume*, after a 0.8% decline in February 2023. This new decrease is explained by the food consumption drop (-2.4%) but also by the decline in purchases of manufactured goods (-1.2%). On the other hand, household energy consumption rebounded slightly (+0.3%).

For the first quarter of 2023 as a whole, household consumption of goods decreased by 0.2% compared to that of the fourth quarter of 2022.

In March 2023, household food consumption diminished again (‑2.4% after ‑1.2% in February 2023). This decline is explained by both the decrease in the consumption of food products and the decline in purchases of agricultural products.

Tobacco consumption fell back sharply.

For the first quarter 2023 as a whole, food consumption decreased by 2.3%.

In March 2023, household consumption of manufactured goods decreased by 1.2%, after a 0.7% fall in February. This sharper decline is mainly due to a drop in consumption of durable goods.

For the first quarter 2023 as a whole, household consumption of manufactured goods was stable (0.0%).

Consumption of durable goods fell again (-2.2% in March 2023 after ‑0.8% in February 2023). This shrinkage is mainly linked to the sharp decline in purchases of new and used vehicles as well as camper vans.

Spending on household equipments decreased again (-0.4% after -1.1% in February 2023) especially the purchases of telephones.

Consumption of other durable goods was virtually stable despite the increase in purchases of cameras and jewellery. Spending on eyeglasses fell back.

Spending on clothing and textiles fell again slightly in March 2023 (-0.4% after -0.3% in February 2023). Spending on clothing retreated and purchases of textiles decreased; conversely, expenses of shoes and leather rebounded.

Consumption of other manufactured goods declined slightly by 0.2% in March 2023 (after -0.6% in February 2023 – revised data). Purchases of do-it-yourself goods and perfumes decreased again; consumption of medicines rebounded.

In March 2023, household energy expenditures slightly increased (+0.3% after ‑0.1% in February 2023). This slight rise is the result of the partial rebound in fuel purchases, partially counterbalanced by the drop in electricity and gas consumption.

For the first quarter of 2023 as a whole, energy consumption increased by 3.7%.

The monthly change in household consumption of goods for February 2023 is unchanged (after rounding), at ‑0.8%. Since the previous publication, new information has been incorporated and the seasonal adjustment (SA) and working day adjustment (WDA) coefficients have been updated, but the revisions to the various aggregates offset each other.