Record poverty rate in 2023, inequalities on the rise: the latest figures from INSEE are “alarming” but far from “surprising”

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Unprecedented for at least thirty years: the poverty rate broke a record in 2023 in metropolitan France, where inequalities are widening, according to the INSEE. These figures are far from "surprising" for the associations, which are urging the State to take action .

This annual study by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) on poverty, published this Monday, July 7, does not include residents of overseas departments , the homeless , and people living in institutions. The last survey conducted on the entire French population estimated the number of people living in poverty at 11.2 million in 2021. "Le Nouvel Obs" takes stock of the findings of this latest study.

• 650,000 people will fall into poverty in 2023

Between 2022 and 2023, the poverty rate increased by 0.9 percentage points, from 14.4% to 15.4%, INSEE specifies in its annual study. This is the highest rate since the launch of the INSEE indicator in 1996.

In concrete terms, 9.8 million people were in a situation of monetary poverty in 2023, meaning they had monthly incomes below the poverty line, set at 60% of the median income, or €1,288 for a single person. In one year, 650,000 people fell into poverty.

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"This is a level unmatched for nearly 30 years," Michel Duée, head of the Household Resources and Living Conditions Department at INSEE, told AFP. "If we want to go back even further, we have to go back to the early 1970s to see poverty levels that are roughly comparable."

"This increase is explained by the cessation of exceptional aid, in particular the inflation allowance and the exceptional back-to-school bonus, which had been put in place in 2022 to support purchasing power," he adds. "The other element of explanation is the increase, among the self-employed, in the share of microentrepreneurs whose incomes are low."

Inequalities in living standards also increased "sharply" in 2023, a consequence of the decline in the standard of living of the poorest people alongside the rise in that of the most well-off.

"Inequality is reaching some of the highest levels in 30 years," notes Michel Duée. "The standard of living of the poorest has increased less quickly than inflation, while the standard of living of the most affluent has been dynamic, notably thanks to the good situation on the labor market and the performance of financial products."

The profile of poor people remains broadly unchanged, with a strong representation of single-parent families - whose poverty rate increased by 2.9 points - and unemployed people, up by 0.8 points.

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