French industrial production September 2026, Digi Mart USA News (France): Industrial signals in France were mixed in September 2026. Overall production across the French industrial sector declined 0.5% month over month, following a 0.4% drop in August, according to data published Thursday, November 5, by INSEE, the national statistics institute.
Output reached its lowest level since May 2025.
Manufacturing, which includes the automotive, food processing and chemicals sectors, rose 0.5% after a 0.3% gain in August. However, the rebound did not erase accumulated losses.
Over one year, manufacturing output remained down 0.9% in the third quarter.
The main weakness came from extractive industries, energy and water, where production fell 3.8% in September. That sector returned to its April level, before increases linked to the summer heat waves.
Electricity production declined 4.2%.
Several manufacturing branches regained momentum. Automotive production jumped 7.5% in September after a 2.9% decline the previous month.
Transport equipment overall rose 2.7%, and food processing rebounded 1%.
Chemicals, pharmaceuticals and metallurgy remained under pressure. Production of other industrial products fell 0.7% over the month.
Across the third quarter as a whole, industrial production decreased 1.1% compared with the previous quarter. The data point to continued fragility in the French economy, where gross domestic product contracted 0.1% over the same period.
