Since the pandemic, French households’ opinion on the country’s future economic situation, as measured by INSEE through its consumer confidence survey of households, has deteriorated sharply, while their opinion of their future personal financial situation has changed little. This situation is unique among the major Eurozone economies: although households’ opinions on the overall situation in their country also worsened in Italy and Germany over the period, this deterioration was much less marked than in France and was accompanied by a decline in households’ opinion on their personal situation, which is not the case in France. Households’ pessimism about the situation in their country relative to their personal situation therefore seems to be a uniquely French characteristic.

For France, the analysis can be fine-tuned by examining the responses provided at the individual household level. The proportion of households that are simultaneously optimistic about their personal situation and pessimistic about the country’s situation has risen from 23% before the pandemic to 43% today. It now represents almost half the population. This increase has been driven more by the over-30s, while the optimism of younger people about the country’s situation has held up better; by income quartile, the increase is relatively even. This rise in pessimism for the country goes hand in hand with the recent increase in the savings ratio. In the business tendency survey, households that are pessimistic about the country but optimistic about their personal situation are more likely to be savers...