France’s economy expanded 0.9% in 2025—slightly better than the government had expected—offering President Emmanuel Macron a modest bright spot after years of pitching himself as a pro-business reformer.
But the momentum faded late in the year, and the outlook for 2026 is weaker. At the same time, lawmakers are challenging the government’s claimed savings for next year’s budget, sharpening questions about what Macron’s economic agenda ultimately delivered—and what remains unfinished.
France’s national statistics agency, Insee, said gross domestic product rose 0.9% in 2025, down from 1.1% in 2024. Growth slowed to 0.2% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.5% the prior quarter, while household consumption increased just 0.4% over the full year.
Forecasts for 2026 diverge: Insee projects 0.7% growth, while the Banque de France is more cautious at 0.5%.
Business pledges largely delivered, but a “Buy European Act” never materialized
Macron arrived at the Élysée Palace in 2017 after serving at Bercy—shorthand for France’s finance ministry—with a detailed economic platform. On the business side, several major commitments from his 2017 campaign were carried out.
Payroll social contributions were cut in 2017 as a replacement for the CICE (a previous tax credit aimed at boosting competitiveness). France’s corporate tax rate was reduced from 33.3% to 25%. A 3% tax on the revenue of large digital platforms was introduced.
A state-backed Fund for Industry and Innovation—promised at €10 billion (about $10.8 billion) financed through the sale of minority government stakes—was created in 2018. And a five-year €50 billion (about $54 billion) investment plan was more than surpassed, according to Les Echos: first with a €100 billion (about $108 billion) post-Covid recovery plan, then with “France 2030,” funded with an additional €30 billion (about $32.4 billion).
One high-profile idea, however, went nowhere: a proposed “Buy European Act” that would have limited access to European public procurement contracts to companies producing at least half their goods in Europe. The article says Paris failed to win support from partner countries.
On household taxes, Macron’s signature pledge to eliminate the taxe d’habitation (a local residence tax) was implemented in three stages and ultimately benefited even the top 20% of earners. The “Yellow Vests” protest movement later pushed the government to add a further €5 billion (about $5.4 billion) cut to income taxes for the first two tax brackets.
Lawmakers say Lecornu’s claimed €6 billion in savings doesn’t add up
The more immediate political test is France’s 2026 budget. The National Assembly’s finance committee issued an unfavorable opinion on June 4, 2026, on a savings plan presented by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, aimed at offsetting the impact of the war in the Middle East.
Lecornu had announced €6 billion (about $6.5 billion) in savings. But lawmakers, after their own calculations, put the likely total in a range of €2.9 billion to €5.1 billion (about $3.1 billion to $5.5 billion) at most, according to Le Monde.
The plan is described as insufficient—and in some cases unfair—ending what the article calls the “Macronist” economic sequence on a familiar note: austerity promised, austerity only partially delivered.
