The contraction of French industry in August marks a new blow for a sector already weakened by several years of successive crises. The fall in production, combined with the plunge in order books, reflects a profound imbalance between supply and demand. While rising interest rates and galloping inflation partly explain this slowdown, deeper structural factors, such as the aging of production tools and increased competition from emerging countries, are making the situation worse.
The consequences of this crisis are multiple. Industrial companies, faced with a drop in their turnover and an increase in their costs, are forced to reduce their workforce and postpone their investments. This situation risks leading to an increase in unemployment in industrial regions and weakening the local economic fabric. In the longer term, the loss of competitiveness of French industry could have repercussions on the trade balance and weigh on the country’s economic growth.
To get out of this impasse, it is urgent to implement ambitious public policies. Supporting companies in difficulty, developing new sectors of activity with high added value and training workers in the jobs of tomorrow are all levers to be used to revive French industry and enable it to meet the challenges of the ecological and digital transition.
