In Q1 2024, the margin rate of non-financial corporations (NFCs) fell significantly, to 32.1% of their value added, or -1.2 points compared to the end of 2023. The downturn in the value added price of NFCs1 weighed heavily on their margin rate: this was particularly the case for companies in the agrifood industry sector, due to the decline in their producer prices. In addition, the real cost of labour per capita increased at the beginning of the year, bolstered by the automatic increase in the minimum wage on 1st January and wage adjustments based on past inflation. Conversely, the reduction in taxes on production boosted the margin rate slightly in Q1, as a result of the new measure to reduce the business value-added contribution (CVAE), and as a reaction to the large increase in the property tax on professional buildings at the end of the year. The NFC margin rate is nevertheless still more than one point above its pre-health crisis average value (30.9% in 2019): it is significantly higher in energy and, to a lesser extent, in the manufacturing industry, but it remains below this value in services, where businesses are slow to pass on any increase in their costs...