Inflation is still there. This Thursday, June 15, 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) confirmed its forecasts from the beginning of the month and indicated that inflation had slowed slightly at least in May with a level of 5.1%. .

These figures are encouraging, since they show a slowdown in the fall in prices and therefore an improvement in the situation. “Excluding fresh products, food prices are slowing for the first time since September 2021” (14.9% after 15.8%), specifies INSEE in its report, stressing however that “the prices of fresh products are increasing at a rate comparable to that of April”.

Despite the slowdown, prices continue to rise on the shelves of our supermarkets. For retirees, this is felt all the more. According to a Silver Alliance study conducted by the CSA Institute from March 6 to 14, 2023, 3 out of 4 retirees believe that their purchasing power has decreased since their retirement. Today, the average income per household of retirees amounts to 2,402 euros per month against 2,199 in 2021. According to the main stakeholders, there would still be about 500 euros missing for them to be able to live their retirement properly.

Thus, if the amount of pensions increases from year to year, these increases remain below the level of inflation, especially since the latter has exploded. Thus, the standard of living of retirees is deteriorating more and more. In any case, this is what the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees) shows in the 2023 edition of its panorama on retirees and pensions.

With the context of high inflation, the purchasing power of retirees is declining. This can be seen from the year 2021. Indeed, as shown by the 2023 edition of the overview of pensioners and DREE pensions, the purchasing power of those concerned fell by 1.3% at the end of the year. year 2021. If pensions had increased by 1.5% that year, the price increase was 2.8%, underlines Capital.

In 2022, the situation is similar. If the basic pension experienced an exceptional increase of 1.1% in January and then 4.4% in July, i.e. a total increase of 5.1%. For its part, the supplementary pension increased by 5.12%.

While these figures are well above the usual increases, they are still below the level of inflation, which this year reached 5.9%.

Still according to the overview of retirees and pensions from the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics, the reductions in purchasing power may vary depending on the main affiliation scheme.

Thus, over the 2020-2021 period, executives in the private sector saw their purchasing power decrease by 2%, while non-executives in the private sector lost 2.1%. For state and territorial civil servants, this level rose to 2.3%. That year, retirees therefore lost an average of 2.2% in purchasing power, then 0.7% in 2021-2022.