Social anger: 4,000 businesses affected, 1.5 billion euros in losses to be feared… Figures from the CCI

The time has come to take stock. After the damage to businesses observed on the sidelines of the demonstrations against the high cost of living in recent days, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) unveiled a first national inventory as well as the indirect impacts of the mobilizations on commercial activity. 20 Minutes looks back at this press conference with the five figures to remember.

4,000 businesses affected According to the CCI network, 4,000 businesses were affected in France, 2.

488 on October 17. During the first Saturday of mobilization, 1,061 establishments were “significantly damaged” and 643 are “still closed to this day”, indicated during a briefing with the press Alain Di Crescenzo, president of CCI France.

In Paris, 480 businesses were affected, in Lyon, 315, and in Marseille, 527, “the most affected city”, recalls Jean-Luc Chauvin, of the Aix Marseille Provence CCI. In the West, Bordeaux recorded 158 places affected and Rennes, 143. Generally speaking, in each city, “very significant” damage concerns half of the establishments.

Luxury and clothing stores such as sports and telephone stores, but also jewelry stores and tobacco shops were the “most targeted”, according to the CCI. It is currently not possible to precisely quantify the total amount of damage and theft, but "what is certain is that it is very important because the traders had already received their stock of goods for the end of the year", specified Jean-Luc Chauvin, of the CCI Aix Marseille Provence. And to continue: “For street furniture and damage to public spaces, the communities have estimated more than 10 million euros for the day of October 17.

» 1.5 billion euros in losses every weekend until Christmas Still according to Alain Di Crescenzo, the CCI has estimated a loss of 1.5 billion euros in turnover, nationally for local businesses, for the coming weekends. “The months of November and December correspond to 40% of our annual turnover,” he explains. There are eight weekends left until the end of the year, so that's 5% per weekend, times when we make 30% more than during the week, so each weekend where our merchants will not be able to carry out their activity, that's 1.5 billion euros in loss.

» For him, if “things don’t get better, we’re going to have a real coup de grace”. He mentions in particular the succession of crises that have hit France since 2018, citing the “yellow vests”, Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, the “riots of 2023” and the decline in purchasing power in recent times. “In addition to the difficult summer, with -20% attendance compared to other summers, which we have just experienced due to the historic heatwave which affected France and which did not encourage the population to shop while strolling in our streets,” he indicates.

Machine-translated from French