Despite sluggish growth, business creations break a record

Business creations reached their highest level in France in September since the start of INSEE measures in 2000, the institute said this Friday, against a sluggish economy and rising unemployment.

In total, 119,307 businesses were created last month, data adjusted for seasonal variations and the effects of working days. This represents an increase of 1.1% over one month, after a jump of 7.2% in August, a month which had already set a record.

Over the month, creations of traditional individual businesses continued to increase sharply (+11.6% after +10.5%) and those of companies accelerated (+5.0% after +3.5%). Registrations of micro-entrepreneurs, which represent two thirds of creations, fell by 1.6% after a significant jump in August (+8.1%). By sector, creations notably increased in business support (+4.1%) and commerce (+4.0%), but declined in industry (-5.1%) and transport/warehouses (-3.6%). Over the last three months, the information-communication sector has been particularly active, with 55% additional creations compared to the same months of 2025.

An entrepreneurial dynamic going against the tide of the economy

This dynamism contrasts with the gloomy economic situation: INSEE only forecasts GDP growth of 0.4% this year, much lower than that of France's neighbors in the euro zone. Unemployment reached its highest level since 2020 in the 2nd quarter (8.3%). Business insolvencies remain high, at 70,766 over 12 months at the end of August, almost 20% above their 2010-2019 average, a level that the Banque de France attributed at the beginning of October to the “degraded economy”, in particular.

Among traditional individual entrepreneurs, INSEE notes an “unusual” increase over the last three months, driven in particular by home sales (+3,500 creations). Since January, 971,803 businesses have been created in France, 13% more than in the first nine months of 2025.