Standard of living in France is increasing, official data reveals

Living standards across France are rising, boosted by low inflation, a new report shows.

Median income increased by 1.8% in 2024 reports the national statistics body Insee in a study published on Thursday, July 9. 

The increase came as consumer inflation across the year – around 2% – was significantly lower than the two preceding years (4.9% in 2023 and 5.2% in 2022). 

Median income reached €2,228 per month (adjusted for inflation) for a single person or €4,011 for a couple with a child under the age of 14.

Improvements were seen across the board – individuals in the bottom 10% (first decile) reached an annual income of €13,970, an increase of 1.7%.

For the second and third deciles (covering the next 20% of lowest-income households) increases were 2.1% and 1.8% respectively.

“Due to the easing of inflation and a labour market that remains favourable (employment rate reached its highest level since 1975, and the unemployment rate was stable at 7.4% of the active population [in 2024]), wages are rising in real terms, particularly for manual and clerical workers,” said Insee in its report. 

Strong employment alongside “increases in the minimum wage, retirement pensions, and social benefits, even as inflation slows,” helped drive the increase, Insee added. 

This included increases of 5.3% to the Allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées (Aspa) benefit and a similar increase to the basic pension rate in January, as well as a 4.6% increase to several social security benefits in April 2024.

It is worth noting that the figures apply only to the end of 2024 (due to the time it takes Insee to compile national data, this is the most recent information available).

While inflation remained low in 2025, a major spike in 2026 in relation to the crisis in the Middle East – as well as a direct spike in fuel costs – mean that the benefits from the year were likely short-lived.

Nearly 10 million in poverty

Questions over increasing poverty were also raised by the report, however.

“Despite an improvement in the living standards of the least well-off, inequalities in living standards have reached a historic high due to rising incomes at the top of the distribution,” said Insee in the report.

France’s poverty rate remained stable at 15.4% in 2024 (following a 0.9 percentage point rise between 2022 and 2023), but this is the highest since records began in 1996.

For unemployed people, this increases to 36.1%, but for a couple without children, only 6.9%.

The definition of poverty in this context is a person with an income of 60% of the median income quoted above, so €1,337 per month for a single person. 

Around 9.8 million people in France fall below this poverty line, including 1.5 million people in households headed by someone aged 65+, and 2.9 million children aged under 18 (reliant on parents who earn below this income level). 

However, half of all people in poverty live on less than €1,074 per month.

Responding to the report, the Alerte collective – a group made up of 37 anti-poverty charities – said that “poverty remains at an unacceptably high historical level and continues to become entrenched.” 

“Statistical stability is not a social victory… [the government must] make the eradication of extreme poverty a priority policy objective.” 

Full data can be found in the report here.