Germany’s economy grew slightly more than expected in the third quarter, while France’s unexpectedly contracted, as slowing exports weighed on both of Europe’s largest economies, official preliminary data showed Friday.
Germany’s gross domestic product rose 0.2% from the previous three-month period, the federal statistics office said. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast growth of 0.1%. The pace of expansion slowed as export growth lost momentum.
Household and government consumption increased slightly in the July-September period, while capital formation declined, the office said. The strong export growth seen in the first half of 2026 slowed noticeably, it added.
Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, German GDP grew 1.3% after adjusting for prices and 1.2% after adjusting for both prices and calendar effects.
In France, the euro zone’s second-largest economy, GDP shrank 0.1% in the third quarter, missing analyst expectations for a 0.1% increase, according to preliminary figures from the national statistics office, Insee. The economy had recorded no growth in the previous three months.
Exports fell 1.7%, a drop of 4.5 percentage points from the prior quarter. The decline was driven mainly by a 9.1% fall in exports of transport equipment, with aerospace the biggest drag. Transport equipment exports had grown 20.8% in the second quarter.
Gross fixed capital formation, the main measure of investment in national accounts, fell 0.6%, extending a 0.5% decline in the second quarter. Construction and transport equipment investment weighed on business spending.
France was also hit by a wave of protests in the final weeks of the quarter. The demonstrations began in September with small student protests in suburban Paris over school conditions and quickly broadened into opposition to the government’s economic policies.
Household consumption continued to rise, up 0.4% after a 0.2% increase in the second quarter.
“Consumption of transport equipment is on the rise again, driven in particular by purchases of electric vehicles,” Insee said.
Energy consumption also rebounded, rising 1.2% after a 2.0% drop in the previous quarter, due to higher spending on electricity, the agency said.
