Cost of living becomes key issue in France’s presidential campaign
In France, the rising cost of living has become one of the key issues of the presidential campaign ahead of the election in April 2027. An Ipsos France survey of 13,060 registered voters showed that only 17% of respondents feel hopeful, while 91% reported negative emotions about the situation in the country.
According to France 24, 59% of those surveyed this year said they feel worried, compared with 38% in 2021. Ipsos director Brice Teinturier said that economic and social issues concern voters far more than immigration, while negative sentiment has intensified demands for radical change.
Purchasing power
Political scientist and researcher at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs Jean-Yves Camus linked the discontent to voters’ feeling that political elites are not responding to their everyday problems. According to him, housing, fuel and food are becoming more expensive, forcing many families to plan their spending more carefully.
France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, INSEE, forecasts that the purchasing power of French households will decline by 0.4% this year. It is affected by inflation and a falling employment rate. Camus also noted that a series of heatwaves damaged harvests and increased agricultural costs, while the war in Iran caused fuel and energy prices to rise.
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Candidates’ proposals
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen called the cost-of-living situation a state of absolute emergency. She promised to give French citizens priority access to social housing, reserve housing subsidies for them, and reduce VAT on gas, electricity and heating oil from 20% to 5.5%.
Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposed capping prices for essential goods and profit margins, freezing rent increases, and indexing wages to inflation. Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel, who announced his intention to run, focused on fuel prices. Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative party The Republicans, proposes increasing the average working day by 30 minutes so that workers can earn one or even two additional monthly salaries per year.
According to polling data cited by France 24, 33–35% of French voters are ready to support a candidate from the National Rally party.
