Insee Première · May 2022 · n° 1904

The national accounts in 2021 Strong rebound in activity and increase in household purchasing power

In 2021, the activity rebounded sharply: gross domestic product (GDP) in constant euros increased by 6.8%, after –7.8% in 2020. However, this clear rebound was not complete, as the improvement in the sanitary situation to which it was largely linked. Thus, on average over the year 2021, GDP was 1.5% below its average level in 2019. The output of the various industries and the components of demand rebounded, albeit with important differences in intensity.

With the strong recovery in activity, labour income contributed to the dynamism of household disposable income. Thus, despite rising prices, household purchasing power per consumption unit increased by 1.9%. With the rebound in consumption spending, the savings rate decreased but remained at a historically high level, at 18.7%. The economic recovery boosted firms' results, which also benefited from a strong increase in property income, especially those received from the rest of the world. In these conditions, the nation's net borrowing was reduced to 0.4% of GDP.