Hauts-de-France, the most vulnerable region to inflation, according to INSEE

With inflation of 6.1% over one year in July according to INSEE, households are bearing the brunt of the rise in prices. There is one region in particular which combines weaknesses, the Hauts-de-France. In a study published on Tuesday, the regional branch of the statistics institute presents the northern region as “most vulnerable to inflation“.

As INSEE points out in the preamble, the rise in prices “strikes more intensely the most modest and the households which bear significant energy expenses, in connection with commuting and heating their homes“. Compared to the national average, these characteristics are more frequent in Hauts-de-France.

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On the standard of living, more than a quarter of the region’s population (27.4%), or 1.6 million people, were considered “modestin 2019, points out Insee. That is to say with a standard of living below 70% of the median disposable income, or 1270 euros for a single person. “This share, the highest in mainland France, is 5 points higher than the average“, indicates the institute of statistics.

Energy vulnerability

In addition, inflation being driven mainly by energy prices, particularly fuel prices, it particularly affects households who use their car to go to work. Hauts-de-France is precisely the French region (excluding Ile-de-France) where the median home-work distance is the highest. In effect, “in the region, half of working people travel more than 10.4 km compared to an average of 9.3 km in mainland France outside Île-de-France to go to work“, notes the Insee. Like the other regions of the province, these journeys are mainly made by car: 89% when they exceed 5 km (90% on average in the provinces) and 68% when they are less than 5 km (67% on average in province).

The most widespread heating methods in the region constitute an additional vulnerability. Indeed, since dwellings are more often heated by gas or fuel oil and less by electricity, households are more affected by the rise in energy prices, since the price of fuel oil doubled over one year in June, and that of gas increased by nearly 50%, while the rise in electricity was limited to 8%.

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Especially since, even before this year’s energy crisis, INSEE points out that, in the region, “nearly one in five households (19%) was already in a situation of energy vulnerability, a proportion 4 points higher than the provincial average“. She stood “in third place among the most affected regions behind the Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté“. In question, “the low level of income, the characteristics of a housing stock made up more of single-family dwellings, and the relatively lower temperatures of the region“, lists the Institute of Statistics.