France flirting with recession after new figures showed growth ground to a halt in the second quarter

See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Updated: 02:58 EDT, 31 August 2026 France is flirting with recession after new figures showed growth ground to a halt in the second quarter of this year.Official figures revised down the performance of the economy – Europe’s second biggest – which was previously estimated to have grown by 0.2 per cent.Finance minister Roland Lescure said it was ‘the first impact of the horrible summer that we had’.The downgrade was attributed to weak agricultural production – hit hard by summer heatwaves and droughts. Sluggish: France is flirting with recession after new figures showed growth ground to a halt in the second quarterThe second quarter halt to economic growth comes after it contracted by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter.Charlotte de Montpellier, senior economist at ING Bank, said: ‘These figures suggest that the French economy came very close to a technical recession in the first half of the year.‘The weak growth backdrop means that the government’s revised GDP growth forecast of 0.7 per cent is now out of reach.’DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you