Paris, Feb 1 (IANS) French households’ commodity consumption dropped by 0.7 percent in December, thanks to lower expenditure in food and energy products, the national statistics institute Insee said.
In December, French consumers purchased less food products for the holiday period. Food products consumption dropped by 1.0 percent after holding steady in November, Insee noted in its monthly report.
In the same period, French consumers also spent less to buy energy products as the mild weather condition pulled down expenditures in heating oil by 2.7 percent after a 0.9-percent slide in November, reported Xinhua.
The report added that French households’ purchase in textile and leather dropped by 0.9 percent after it saw a 0.7-percent decrease a month earlier.
France is expected to register an inflation rate of 1.7 percent in 2012, down from an estimated 2.1 percent in 2011.
