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Some 25% of French Say They Refused to Buy Food Because of Inflation - Poll

PARIS (Sputnik) - Almost one in four out of 10 French people refused to buy food in recent months because of a surge in inflation, the poll by the Elabe polling organization for French media showed on Wednesday.
Sputnik
According to the poll, eight out of ten French people, 81%, refused to spend money on food, shopping, leisure, medical care, and other services at least once in the past month.
Compared to November 2022, the number of people who refused to buy food has grown to 43% - the highest increase, according to the poll. The French said they gave up buying meat (43%), fish (34%), cakes and biscuits (27%), organic food (26%), and sausage (26%) because of the inflation.
The French also had to buy either cheaper food products (44%) or in smaller quantities (30%).
The poll also showed that some 53% of the surveyed French gave up spending money on shopping, 49% refused to spend time in cinemas, restaurants, and bars, and 45% abandoned vacation or weekend trips.
Just one-third of respondents (34%) said they had not had enough money for heating in recent months, while 20% gave up spending money for charity, and 17% refused to spend on medical care.
Such self-restrictions represented the difficulties experienced by the French because of inflation, the broadcaster reported. According to the report, 79% of those surveyed said they had to spend less compared to their usual lifestyle, of which 25% said they had to significantly decrease expenses.
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According to the report, 55% of the French said they can make ends while saving (18%) or not self-restricting themselves too much (37%). At the same time, 45% of the French said they must limit themselves (32%) and even use their savings for a living (13%).
The poll was held by Elabe from May 9-10 among 1,000 French people aged 18 and older.
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