Consumer prices are 7% higher in the Paris region than elsewhere, a drop of 2 points compared to 2015. This is revealed by an INSEE study published on Tuesday. Almost a third of this difference is due to the cost of housing, including charges, because rents there are 40% higher than in the provinces.
Without taking rents into account, the gap between the Paris region and the rest of France narrows to 5%.
Food, whose prices are 7% higher in the Paris region, also contributes significantly to the gap.
Growing gaps with the outside
The INSEE researchers also compared consumer prices in mainland France and in the five overseas departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Réunion, Mayotte).
Life is more expensive abroad and the differences have widened everywhere between 2015 and 2022 compared to France. They stand at 15.8% for Guadeloupe (+3.3 points compared to 2015), 13.8% for Martinique (+1.5 points), 13.7% for Guyana (+2.1 points) , 8.9% for Réunion (+1.8 points) and 10.3% for Mayotte (+3.4 points), where, however, rents are not taken into account.
The food at the origin of these differences
It is food that explains most of these differences, with food prices 30% higher in Mayotte and up to 42% in Guadeloupe, where a substantial proportion of food is imported and therefore more expensive .
The weight of communications, including internet or mobile plans, or the price of telephones, for example, have increased in the foreign basket. However, its price is significantly higher abroad (from 12% more expensive in Mayotte to 37% in Martinique).
For Corsica, prices are also 7% higher than in France (outside the Paris region), the researchers noted, but without taking into account the level of rents. This is 3 points more than in 2015.
On the island of beauty, it’s the food that leads the way, with prices 14% higher than on the mainland.
Source: BFM TV
