Business climate in France ‘stable’ in August 2025

The business climate in France is ‘stable’ in August, at 96, however this is below its long-term average, according to statistics body Insee.

This period of subdued sentiment has lingered since July last year, with an uneven picture recorded across different sectors – in retail and services, for example, the business climate is weakening, while manufacturing is holding steady and construction is showing some improvement.

Sector by sector

The retail trade saw its business climate indicator fall to 92 in August, a drop of seven points on the previous month, with deteriorating order intentions and a weaker general outlook cited by business leaders in the sector.

In services, the business climate indicator was down one point to 95, with the sector now below its long-term average for fourteen consecutive months. Business leaders in services cited a less favourable view of their personal business outlook compared with the previous month.

In manufacturing, meanwhile, the indicator was unchanged on the previous month, at 96. Aside from the balance of opinion regarding finished-goods inventories, which declined, other components of the indicator stayed virtually stable.

The construction sector was an outlier, with its business climate indicator rising by two points to 98, according to Insee.

‘Business managers are much more optimistic than in July about their future activity prospects,’ it said. ‘Moreover, they have reported an increase in their production capacity utilisation rate and their assessment on their order books level is slightly less negative than in July.’

Employment climate

Elsewhere, alongside the business climate indicator, Insee reported that the employment climate indicators fell by one point to 95 in August, continuing the trend below its long-term average.

Survey responses for the August release were collected between 28 July and 19 August. Read more here.

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