Has household consumption, the driving force behind French growth, stalled? Or was it actually in the process of rebounding? In 2019, household consumption rose at an average annual rate of 1.5% in real terms, which is considered to be a disappointing performance. But “disappointing” on what grounds and from which standpoint? Are we really dealing with a feeble rebound? These are difficult questions to answer, since everything depends on the perspective we take and the determinants we look at. In this article, we will try to put household consumption into context, and provide answers and explanations for the above issues. In a descriptive analysis in part one, we examine household consumption’s role as a growth engine, its momentum and composition. The second part is explanatory
