The baguette is also a story told in numbers
It's a story of precision, passion, hours of work, and craftsmanship.
15.7 to 19.7 inches long (40–50 cm)
This is the average length of a traditional French baguette, while an ordinary or white baguette measures between 23.6 and 27.6 inches (60–70 cm).
8.8 ounces (250 g); around 12.3 ounces (350g) before baking
This is the weight of a traditional French baguette, with a tolerance of 5%. However, in some French regions, a baguette is a 7 ounce (200 g) loaf, while a flûte weighs 8.8 ounces (250 g). In the rest of France, the opposite is true.
0.6 ounces (18 g)
That is the maximum salt content per 2.2 pounds of flour for a traditional French baguette, which is generally limited to 0.5 ounces (15 g) total.
33,000
This is the number of bakers that knead and bake baguettes every day across France. So many artisans, so many different kinds of baguette.
12 million
This is the number of customers in France who go into a boulangerie every day to buy bread. 95% of French people eat bread every day.
10 billion
This is the number of baguettes sold in France every year. That means more than 300 baguettes sold every second, and more than 27 million per day.
+35%
That's the rise in the price of a baguette over the last 20 years, closely following general price rises, which in France is 30% over the same period.
29 cents
That's the lowest known price of an ordinary baguette for sale to the general public, offered by the retail chain Leclerc since 2020. This price, which is hugely incongruous with the realities of French artisans, has caused great controversy in France over the viability of such a model in consideration of antidumping laws.
70%
That's the share of French baguette sales in a boulangerie (compared to 30% specialty loaves).
Between 8 and 24 hours
That's the average time it takes to make a baguette. The more natural the production process, the more time is needed to develop it. The so-called active phases (when the baker intervenes) take around 1.5 to 2 hours on average. The rest of the time is devoted to the static phases, which allow the dough to develop and bring out its flavors.
25 minutes
This is the average time taken to bake a traditional French baguette in an oven heated between and 482°F and 500°F (250–260°C).
98%
This is the percentage of French people who consider bread, and in particular the baguette, to be an essential part of their meals. Young people in France eat less bread than their elders but consume a lot of it in sandwich form. Half of French children/teens eat bread every day, compared to three out of four adults.
2 lb (900 g) a day
That's the average amount of bread eaten by a French person in a day 100 years ago. This figure has fallen to a tenth of its size over the past 70 years to around 3.5 oz (100 g) today. It has transformed over the years from a necessity to a source of pleasure.
180,000
This is the number of people employed in the artisanal bread-making industry in France. It is made up of 51% women (most of whom work in sales roles) and 49% men (most of whom are bakers).However, more and more women are training to become professional bakers (around 1/3 of those in training) and taking conversion courses.
55%
This is the percentage of bread sales coming from artisan bakers in France. The artisan bakery sector represented by the French national confederation of boulangeries and patisseries (CNBPF) generates more than 11 billion USD in business revenue every year.
€0.07
That's the profit in real terms that an artisan baker makes on the sale of a €1 baguette.
Vincent Ferniot
