August 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded globally, and France was not spared. The repeated heat waves (83 days out of 92 between June 1 and August 31), the resulting drought (80% of the territory under water restrictions) and the massive fires have traumatised local populations and disrupted the economy.
Certainly, the composite indicator of the business climate, calculated by INSEE from the responses of business leaders in the main commercial sectors, improved in August: at 99, it gained one point compared to July and recorded a third consecutive month of increase, mainly thanks to favourable production prospects in industry and an improvement in the group consisting of retail trade and the trade and repair of motor vehicles.
But once again, inflation has invited itself into the homes of the French, driven by the war in the Middle East. According to INSEE, consumer prices increased by 2.4% in August year-on-year, mainly due to soaring energy prices (+16.7%), and in particular petroleum products. Fresh produce also shows a significant increase of 5.8%. The increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) reached 2.7%, confirming inflationary pressure that weighs on purchasing power.
For businesses too, rising energy prices are a source of concern, and the activity of road carriers is obviously particularly exposed, given the weight of fuel in costs. This concern is reflected in the business climate index for road freight transport, which fell by 1.7 points in August compared to the previous month, mainly due to a sharp deterioration in the outlook for sales and demand.
Source : Insee
To help businesses and households, the government has put in place economic support measures, but the budgetary context limits the room for manoeuvre. With soaring fuel prices, which worsened at the beginning of September, discontent is growing and the spectre of the yellow vest movement has resurfaced.
Road carriers also believe that the numbers don't add up. "While five months of aid should already have been paid to carriers, in fact 70% of companies have only received one month's payment and 30% have not yet received any aid," OTRE said in a statement published on September 10. "Without an increase in transport prices, without effective application of indexation and without immediate payment of promised aid, their economic survival and the sustainability of the sector are directly threatened," warns OTRE.
In these very difficult conditions, we note that road transport prices in France showed only a very slight increase of 0.1% in August compared to the previous month (...)