France’s preliminary year-on-year gross domestic product growth rate for the third quarter of 2026 was -0.1%, the country’s statistics data showed. The reading came in below the market forecast of 0.3%, and it was also lower than the previous period’s 0.5%. A negative figure means the economy produced less output over the year to Q3 than it did a year earlier.
Gross domestic product measures the total value of goods and services produced in an economy over a given period, so the year-on-year rate compares output in Q3 2026 with output in the same quarter of the prior year. Economists watch the figure closely because it is the broadest single gauge of economic activity. A reading below zero signals that the economy has shrunk in annual terms.
Comparison with forecast and prior period
Against expectations, the preliminary figure fell short of the 0.3% forecast by 0.4 percentage points. Against the previous period, it was 0.6 percentage points lower, moving from 0.5% to -0.1%. The two comparisons point in the same direction here, both indicating weaker growth than the market anticipated and than the earlier reading.
The figure is preliminary and may be revised as more complete data becomes available. The reference period is the third quarter of 2026, and the data was released at 06:30 GMT on 30 October 2026.
Related: France GDP Contracts 0.1% in Q3 2026 · Hungary's growth seen at 1.7% in 2026, 2.6% in 2027
