French consumer confidence fell to 80 in October, its lowest since June 2013, as households turned more negative about personal finances, living standards and unemployment.
French consumer confidence fell five points to 80 in October, its lowest level since June 2013, the national statistics institute INSEE reported on 27 October. The reading was well below the long-term average of 100, calculated over January 1987 to December 2025, and below the 85 that economists surveyed by Reuters had expected, the same as the revised September figure.
Households grew more negative about their personal finances on both horizons: the balance for past personal finances fell six points to minus 32, and for future personal finances fell nine points to minus 24. The balance for past living standards fell to minus 85, the lowest since the survey began in 1972, while future living standards fell to minus 67 from minus 61. The indicator for major purchases weakened to minus 41 from minus 37, unemployment fears rose five points to 61, and perceptions that prices had risen over the past year rose eight points to 42. The survey covered 2,000 households between 25 September and 19 October.
The figures are reported by Reuters and by dpa-AFX, which agree on the headline index, the sub-indicators and the survey dates, and INSEE is named by both as the issuing agency. One causal claim must not be made from this release: the survey closed on 19 October, before the demonstrations on 24 October, so it does not capture household views after those events and does not establish that protests caused the October decline, even though Reuters frames the protests as context for the month.
A confidence reading 20 points below its long-term average, with living-standards sentiment at a record low, points to households pulling back on spending at a time when the government faces fiscal uncertainty and rising bond yields. The weakness is broad rather than narrow: finances, living standards, major purchases, saving intentions and unemployment fears all moved in the same gloomy direction in the same month.
The next INSEE reading will show whether October marked a low point or the start of a longer slide in household sentiment, and whether the post-survey protests and fiscal debate leave a further mark on confidence.