Headlines
French growth beats forecasts in Q3 despite political turmoil
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 30, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 30, 2025
By Leigh Thomas
PARIS (Reuters) -France's economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter as exports surged, due mainly to shipments from the aerospace industry, and as corporate investment perked up despite a political crisis, official data published on Thursday showed.
The euro zone's second-biggest economy expanded by 0.5% after posting 0.3% growth in the second quarter, outshining both Germany and Italy, whose economies stagnated in the period.
France's third-quarter growth easily beat economists' average forecast of 0.2% with none of the 26 economists polled by Reuters expecting a result higher than 0.3%.
The national statistics office INSEE said in a preliminary GDP report for the period that exports jumped 2.2% in the third quarter from the previous quarter while imports fell 0.4%, which meant foreign trade boosted growth by 0.9 percentage points.
The surge in exports more than offset a drop in business inventories, which put a 0.6 percentage point drag on growth. Firms drew down stocks of goods in the quarter as they rushed to ship products ahead of the Trump administration's new 15% tariffs on EU imports.
CORPORATE INVESTMENT OFFSETS WEAK CONSUMER SPENDING
Meanwhile, corporate investment grew 0.9% in the quarter, helping to offset weak growth of just 0.1% for consumer spending - France's traditional motor for growth.
France sank deeper into political crisis during the third quarter as opposition parties ousted President Emmanuel Macron's previous prime minister just as the government was preparing to send its 2026 budget to parliament, triggering downgrades from three ratings agencies.
A new minority government led by Macron loyalist Sebastien Lecornu is racing to pass the budget in France's fractured parliament, where lawmakers have added amendments that could raise taxes on companies by billions of euros if they survive in the Senate.
"Despite political upheavals and international uncertainties, our companies are investing, exporting, and driving the country forward," Finance Minister Roland Lescure said in response to the GDP data, which he described as "remarkable".
"The swift adoption of a budget that preserves the confidence of businesses and households will be crucial to maintaining this momentum," he added.
Economists said the strong third-quarter performance raised hopes that the French economy could remain relatively insulated from the current political instability.
"Political and budgetary uncertainty is likely to weigh on growth momentum. Still, improving business sentiment and consumer confidence in October suggest the impact could be smaller or delayed," ING senior economist Charlotte de Montpellier said in a research note.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Bernadette Baum and Gareth Jones)