The activity of the private sector in France was hired again in September, during the 13th consecutive month, when it seemed to stabilize in August, according to the PMI Flash HCOB barometer published on Tuesday, September 23 by S&P Global and the Hamburg Commercial Bank. Its index falls well below the 50 bar, in 48.4, synonymous with the contraction of economic activity. While a shy Uptop is taking shape at European level, growth is still very soft in France.
From the dissolution in the summer of 2024, France stands out “for a unique lack of trust”, which is “clearly the missing element of” Tricolor, said Dorian Roucher, head of the Department of the condition of Insee. Internal demand, heavy for the trust of the lowest households, is weak, while the French tend to save. Insee concluded that “the engines of the French economy in 2025 do not seem durable.”
The companies interviewed to carry out this monthly survey mainly granted this new decrease to “the weakness of the demand”, with in particular “an acceleration of the fall in the new orders in the manufacturing sector,” said the authors.
A decrease in foreign demand
Some respondents pointed out “the climate of political uncertainty in France”, as well as “the fall in demand for foreign markets.”
In this context, the “growth of employment” was “marginal” in September “, and less marked than that observed in August”, also relates the barometer.
By 2025, INSE provides a deceleration in French growth, with an increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 0.8% after 1.1% in 2024, in a context of budgetary restrictions and global economic uncertainty.
Source: BFM TV
