Reflecting this situation, the business climate indicator (ICA) fell by 8.5 points year-on-year and stood at a level signalling sluggish growth, amid expectations of improved visibility and positive signals. The pace of growth in investment lending slowed, and labour market indicators also point to this lack of momentum, with a rising unemployment rate. This trend affected most sectors of activity.
Although weakened and partially disrupted at year-end by the protest movement against the ‘high cost of living’, household consumption proved resilient and remained the main driver of growth in Martinique. The easing of the European Central Bank’s key interest rates from June 2024 onwards, together with efforts to reduce the relative level of consumer prices, should help support the beginnings of stabilisation in 2025.