How French people respond to risk

With six months to go before the French presidential election, Groupe BPCE’s Insurance business unit is publishing a groundbreaking barometer survey which, for the very first time, takes the views expressed by French respondents in the 2026 BPCE L’Observatoire Insurance Barometer survey and combines them with the observed behavior of nearly eight million insurance customers of the Banques Populaires and Caisses d’Epargne. This exclusive analysis offers insight into how the French protect themselves, adapt to climate risks, make spending trade-offs, and change their life plans related to housing, savings, or retirement planning.

Is the cost-of-living crisis taking a toll on French savings?

The rising cost of living is increasingly reflected in the behavior of French households, starting with saving patterns, a key indicator of purchasing power. Indeed, only 16% of French people currently expect to save more, down eight percentage points from 2025, while a growing share say they expect to save less: 28%, compared with 20% last year.

The current crisis is also evident in savers’ objectives. Nearly four in ten respondents (39%) set money aside as a financial cushion “for a rainy day,” whereas only 15% save for holidays, and a mere 10% to buy real estate. Against this backdrop, financial security has become a priority for French households. As a result, they favor savings that are readily accessible (38%), preferring safe and protected investments (32%) over the promise of higher returns (17%) or ethical investment options (4%).

With working people worrying about their retirement, funded pension schemes are becoming increasingly important

More worried than ever about the future, French people are increasingly inclined to look ahead and plan for retirement. A majority (68%) admits to fearing that their pensions will be too small to cover their needs, to the effect that 43% of working people included in the survey are already saving money for their retirement, rising to 62% among managers and professionals.

This figure, however, is down 13 points from last year. At the same time, funded retirement saving, which is receiving growing attention in public debate, now enjoys broad support among the French population: 69% are in favor of it, an increase of 16 percentage points compared with 2025.

Conflicts, cyberattacks, natural disasters: the risks that worry people

Although inflation remains respondents’ primary concern (84%), other risks that are becoming increasingly frequent and severe also weigh heavily on their minds. Geopolitical tensions, which have been escalating for several years, are a source of concern for a majority of French people (73%), as are personal and property security risks (70%), cyberattacks (65%), and natural disasters (60%). Next come pandemics and health crises (56%), civil unrest and riots (49%), energy shortages (47%), unemployment (43%), and population aging (42%). These risks are all the more concerning to French people because 71% of respondents believe they are difficult to insure adequately.

Real estate ambitions collide with market realities

Against this challenging backdrop, a large majority of French people included in the survey (85%) express a desire for change, up 4 percentage points from 2025. This appetite for something new is most evident in housing: 43% of French people are considering moving within three years (+4 points), an intention rising to 69% among 18- to 24-year-olds and to 56% in the Greater Paris area.

Even those intending to stay in their current homes have plans of their own: one in ten French people expects to undertake major home improvement or renovation work in the near future. Finally, nearly one in two French people (47%) believe that it is important to own their primary residence.

Insurers: a key partner in supporting the French

Faced with these emerging risks, French people are increasingly turning to their insurers. A large majority expect insurers to provide preventive solutions (77%) and to compensate them effectively in the event of a claim (73%). Exposure to these risks is also prompting more than one-third of French people (36%) to say they would be willing to pay higher insurance premiums in exchange for a higher level of protection.

At the same time, the cost-of-living crisis is leading a significant share of respondents (30%) to accept reduced insurance coverage in return for lower premiums. This trade-off between affordability and stronger protection against risk is also reflected in the criteria they consider most important when choosing insurance. Fast and effective claims handling (26%) ranks almost equally with competitive pricing (25%) and coverage tailored to individual circumstances (23%).

Methodology: online interviews were conducted from May 8 to 27, 2026 among a sample of 2,000 people representative of the population aged 18 or more living in mainland France. Representativeness was ensured using the quota sampling method based on the following criteria: gender, age, occupation, region, and size of urban area.