Consumer spending on electrical goods in France amounted to €29,290 million in 2004, according to Mintel’s definition of the market, up by 3.2% on the previous year, and slightly lagging total consumer expenditure, which lifted by 3.8% to €901,213 million. In the absence of spending figures from the French statistics bureau, INSEE, for 2005, Mintel is forecasting that growth in spending on electrical goods will have slowed marginally, in line with the rather subdued consumer sentiment demonstrated during the year, which was characterised by a relatively bleak political and social climate. We therefore expect a figure in the region of €30,020 million for 2005.

The French electricals sector stood at €16,693 million in 2004, up 5.2% against the previous year. This was considerably ahead of all retail sales, which lifted by 2.4%. Sales appear to have been driven by both product innovations and price competition, however we believe that this rate of growth is likely to have slowed considerably in 2005, as the political and social malaise began to take its toll on consumers’ appetite to spend on discretionary areas. Mintel is relatively optimistic on the future of the French electricals sector, and is forecasting growth in the sector to pick up pace between 2006 and 2010, on the back of forecast improvements in the country’s economic conditions and continuing development of new technologies. We believe that electrical retailers will broadly hold share of all retail sales over the period.