2023-07-06 14:02:12
The higher the prices at the pump, the lower the fuel consumption. This is the – logical – conclusion of an INSEE study carried out between September 2021 and January 2023, a period when prices at the pump jumped, sometimes exceeding 2 euros per liter. It shows that a 1% increase in petrol or diesel prices leads to an average drop of 0.21 to 0.4% in consumption. But behind this general observation, there are strong disparities.
Between the territories first. Because not all French people have been able to do without fuel in the same way to get to their place of work, do their shopping or drop their children off at school. Access to alternatives such as public transport or soft mobility – bicycle, scooter – is not the same in the countryside or in the city center. As a result, depending on where you live, the impact of soaring fuel prices varied from one to two.
Rebates have benefited the wealthiest more
Thus, the fuel expenditure of rural households, dependent on cars to get around, increased from 127 to 160 euros in 2022 on a bill of 1,855 euros. For suburban residents, the increase was from 107 to 133 euros, for an annual expenditure of 1,480 euros. Urban households came out the best: their bills only increased from 57 to 79 euros, out of 981 euros annually.
To limit the effects of soaring fuel prices on the budget of motorists, the government implemented several pump discounts last year, allowing on average to avoid an additional annual cost of 51 to 81 euros per household. But these gifts have benefited the wealthiest families more.
Less sensitive to price variations, because fuel represents only a small 3% of their budget – compared to around 8% for the most modest – they consumed more gasoline. Thanks to the boosts of 30, 20 or 10 cents per liter decided by the public authorities in 2022, the richest households have seen their bills reduced by 64 to 115 euros over the year. While for the less well-off, the range was only 29 to 48 euros.
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