SOCIETY / High cost of living: a conference to “depoliticize the debate” and structure action in Saint-Martin | FAXINFO

December 12, 2025

The fight against the high cost of living was at the heart of the conference organized on Monday, December 8th at the CCISM, chaired by Angela Dormoy et Fabrice Thibier, secretary general of the prefecture. About twenty economic, institutional and associative representatives were gathered to take stock of prices in Saint-Martin and identify avenues for action.

From the outset, the president of the CCISM emphasized the collective urgency: “Each of us suffers the consequences. We are all stakeholders in this life that is so dear to Saint-Martin.”, mentioning the need for “to depoliticize the debates” To advance.

A constructive panel
Around the table: local producers, banks, distributors, professional organizations, government agencies, the Price Observatory, port operators, and insurance companies. A diversity welcomed by the government representative: “It takes a lot of discipline for us to get along.”Fabrice Thibier emphasized this point. He stressed the discrepancies observed: up to +47% on the food basket, in a context where “Things are complicated”, particularly regarding logistical constraints and the lack of consolidated local data.ITSEE, young statistical structure, is still working on making the indicators autonomous with respect to Guadeloupe.

A price overview that confirms major discrepancies
La DEETS presented an overview of prices (2022 data – survey of 2500 products and services) in the overseas territories compared to mainland France: +12% for Saint-Martin, +15,8% in Guadeloupe, 8,9% in Réunion.
Details for our territory Food +47%, telecoms and internet +43%, restaurants and hotels +22%, clothing +9%, office supplies and books +22%. Conversely, alcohol, cigarettes, transport (excluding air travel) and car maintenance (-13%) and fuels are generally cheaper, with a liter of diesel recorded last week at € 1,27 on average against € 1,80 in Guadeloupe and € 1,78 in Martinique.
Why life remains expensive
Several participants recalled the structural obstacles Transport costs, taxes, high land prices, insurance difficulties, weak infrastructure, and the historic decline of the agricultural and fishing sectors are all contributing factors. Local livestock farming, which once exported to Guadeloupe, has never recovered its pre-Hurricane Luis herd size. As for fishing, it suffers from a lack of clear areas and degraded or inaccessible ponds where fish cannot reproduce as they once did.
On the side of banks, debt ratio (ratio between monthly financial expenses and disposable income) is 35% (max 39%) (for a local bank): “It’s always the same people buying and the same people selling. Land is very expensive, too expensive for the people of Saint-Martin.” This issue, which is hindering local economic development, was also addressed. the lack of specific insurance for solar energy and the exorbitant fares of some companies: “If a fare of €800 is applied in mainland France, it goes up to €3700 in Saint-Martin,” a territory considered too small for shared services. Regarding the telecomsEve Riboud, CEO of Dauphin Telecom, wanted to clarify the situation: “We pay 600 times more per megabit than in mainland France, so the 43% increase is understandable, but we are also making an effort. Infrastructure is very expensive; we have two submarine fiber optic cables who supply Saint-Martin. The younger one is twenty years old and the other is around forty.” As for the tax system put in place to counter dependence on imports and reduce the cost of living, a tax exemption package TGCA products from local agriculture (including with transformation) has been in effect since January 1, 2025. Yannick Buisson-Rotsen, Director of Taxation at the COM, nevertheless specified: “If needs are brought to the attention of the Collectivity, there is a way to act by taking into account the needs and taking into account the constraints of the Collectivity”.

Towards enhanced governance
For Fabrice Thibier, the priority is to”to have onboard instruments for piloting” : Price and Quality Shield updatework on a suitable local basket, improvement of data collection specific to Saint-Martin, and support for local production. The CCISM, for its part, encouraged a territorial approach to consumption, recalling that 55% of food purchases are made in small, local shops.
Between alarming observations and a desire to act, this conference marks a long-awaited step: that of a collective mobilization to transform a region where the high cost of living remains more than ever a daily challenge.