France’s gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2026 after stagnating in the second, INSEE said in its first estimate, against the 0.1 percent growth economists polled by Reuters had expected and the Banque de France had projected. Foreign trade subtracted 0.6 points from growth after adding 0.6 points in the second quarter: exports fell 1.7 percent after rising 2.8 percent, driven by transport equipment, down 9.1 percent after a 20.8 percent jump, in particular aeronautics, while imports were almost flat, up 0.1 percent. Investment fell 0.6 percent after a 0.5 percent fall, and manufacturing production fell 1.4 percent. Household consumption cushioned the fall, rising 0.4 percent after 0.2 percent, government spending rose 0.3 percent, and inventory changes added 0.4 points; the growth already secured for 2026 as a whole stands at 0.2 percent.
In a separate release the same morning, INSEE put French consumer price inflation at 3.4 percent year on year in October on its provisional estimate, up from 3.1 percent in September, with prices rising 0.4 percent on the month after falling 0.3 percent. Energy prices rose 24.1 percent year on year, accelerating for a fourth straight month on gas and petroleum products, and services inflation picked up to 2.7 percent from 2.4 percent, while food inflation eased to 1.2 percent. The harmonised rate rose to 3.8 percent from 3.4 percent; final October figures are due on November 13.