Informations rapides
17 December 2020
2020- n° 320
In December 2020, the business climate in industry ends the year slightly on the rise Monthly business survey (goods-producing industries) - December 2020

According to the business managers surveyed in December 2020, the business climate in industry has very slightly increased. It has gained one point and now stands at 93. Yet, the indicator stays considerably below its long-term level (100). With a gradual exit from the second lockdown in mind, prospective balances of opinion on personal production expectations and general production prospects in industry have contributed positively to the increase of the indicator. Conversely, the balances on past production and overall order books have dragged down the business climate.

Informations rapides
No 320
Paru le :Paru le17/12/2020
Prochaine parution le : 19/09/2025 at 08:45 - September 2025
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According to the business managers surveyed in December 2020, the business climate in industry has very slightly increased. It has gained one point and now stands at 93. Yet, the indicator stays considerably below its long-term level (100). With a gradual exit from the second lockdown in mind, prospective balances of opinion on personal production expectations and general production prospects in industry have contributed positively to the increase of the indicator. Conversely, the balances on past production and overall order books have dragged down the business climate.

Business climate in manufacturing - Composite indicator

Business climate in manufacturing - Composite indicator
Business climate in manufacturing - Composite indicator
2005-01 103.4
2005-02 103.2
2005-03 99.8
2005-04 96.8
2005-05 97.2
2005-06 99.2
2005-07 100.3
2005-08 99.8
2005-09 99.1
2005-10 101.3
2005-11 101.2
2005-12 104.2
2006-01 103.2
2006-02 106.7
2006-03 106.5
2006-04 108.0
2006-05 108.9
2006-06 108.7
2006-07 109.0
2006-08 108.6
2006-09 108.2
2006-10 107.3
2006-11 109.7
2006-12 109.3
2007-01 108.3
2007-02 111.8
2007-03 111.4
2007-04 112.1
2007-05 110.2
2007-06 111.3
2007-07 111.6
2007-08 111.0
2007-09 110.7
2007-10 110.0
2007-11 112.3
2007-12 112.5
2008-01 110.6
2008-02 110.4
2008-03 110.0
2008-04 107.5
2008-05 104.3
2008-06 103.6
2008-07 99.0
2008-08 98.2
2008-09 91.9
2008-10 87.4
2008-11 80.1
2008-12 73.7
2009-01 72.9
2009-02 68.9
2009-03 67.0
2009-04 70.9
2009-05 72.7
2009-06 75.3
2009-07 76.7
2009-08 81.2
2009-09 84.2
2009-10 85.4
2009-11 87.8
2009-12 87.7
2010-01 90.4
2010-02 88.9
2010-03 91.3
2010-04 95.3
2010-05 96.7
2010-06 95.9
2010-07 97.4
2010-08 100.5
2010-09 103.1
2010-10 104.2
2010-11 101.9
2010-12 104.3
2011-01 108.8
2011-02 107.0
2011-03 110.2
2011-04 110.2
2011-05 107.3
2011-06 110.0
2011-07 104.9
2011-08 101.4
2011-09 99.4
2011-10 97.6
2011-11 97.7
2011-12 94.9
2012-01 95.2
2012-02 95.1
2012-03 96.7
2012-04 95.9
2012-05 95.0
2012-06 93.3
2012-07 91.4
2012-08 93.1
2012-09 92.9
2012-10 87.4
2012-11 91.9
2012-12 91.1
2013-01 90.1
2013-02 90.8
2013-03 90.8
2013-04 88.0
2013-05 92.3
2013-06 92.9
2013-07 94.9
2013-08 98.7
2013-09 96.1
2013-10 98.1
2013-11 98.3
2013-12 99.5
2014-01 99.8
2014-02 98.5
2014-03 101.0
2014-04 100.5
2014-05 98.5
2014-06 96.8
2014-07 96.5
2014-08 96.9
2014-09 97.1
2014-10 97.7
2014-11 99.1
2014-12 98.9
2015-01 98.9
2015-02 98.7
2015-03 99.2
2015-04 101.7
2015-05 102.0
2015-06 100.4
2015-07 101.7
2015-08 103.8
2015-09 104.8
2015-10 103.3
2015-11 102.4
2015-12 102.6
2016-01 102.9
2016-02 103.2
2016-03 102.7
2016-04 104.9
2016-05 104.6
2016-06 101.7
2016-07 101.8
2016-08 101.9
2016-09 103.5
2016-10 102.3
2016-11 102.2
2016-12 105.6
2017-01 106.0
2017-02 106.9
2017-03 105.8
2017-04 108.8
2017-05 108.9
2017-06 109.0
2017-07 108.3
2017-08 110.4
2017-09 110.9
2017-10 111.1
2017-11 111.5
2017-12 111.5
2018-01 113.5
2018-02 112.5
2018-03 110.7
2018-04 110.8
2018-05 110.1
2018-06 109.7
2018-07 108.7
2018-08 109.2
2018-09 107.3
2018-10 104.3
2018-11 105.1
2018-12 103.1
2019-01 103.2
2019-02 103.5
2019-03 103.8
2019-04 101.8
2019-05 104.1
2019-06 102.0
2019-07 101.6
2019-08 102.8
2019-09 101.9
2019-10 99.7
2019-11 101.8
2019-12 98.7
2020-01 102.2
2020-02 100.9
2020-03 98.0
2020-04 67.7
2020-05 70.8
2020-06 77.5
2020-07 82.4
2020-08 92.5
2020-09 94.5
2020-10 94.4
2020-11 91.7
2020-12 93.0

Business climate in manufacturing - Composite indicator

  • Source: INSEE

Industrialists’ opinion on manufacturing activity

Balance of opinion, in %, SA
Industrialists’ opinion on manufacturing activity (Balance of opinion, in %, SA)
Ave.* Sept. 20 Oct. 20 Nov. 20 Dec. 20
Manufacturing industry
Composite indicator 100 95 94 92 93
Past activity 4 7 15 15 8
Finished-goods inventory 12 6 8 7 10
Overall order books -18 -34 -33 -31 -37
Export order books -14 -43 -46 -43 -38
Past workforce size -10 -17 -15 -9 -8
Expected workforce size -11 -13 -14 -14 -9
Personal production expectations 5 10 5 -10 1
General production expectations -8 -3 -12 -39 -4
  • * Long-term average since 1976.
  • Source: INSEE - Monthly business tendency survey in industry

In December, industrialists‘ opinion on their production prospects has improved

In December 2020, industrialists are more optimistic than last month about their personal production prospects. The related balance, that had fallen in November subsequently to the announcement of a second national lockdown, has risen back sharply this month. In the same way, the balance on general production prospects has bounced back steeply from its last month fall. It has even exceeded its October’s level.

For the first time since July 2020, the balance of opinion on overall order books has fallen. This balance has gotten back to its level of August 2020 and remains very deteriorated. However, the balance of opinion on foreign order books has continued to recover from its historical drop of April 2020.

Industrialists’ opinion concerning their past production in the last three months has worsened, likely due to the second lockdown implemented late October. Whereas the balance had first stagnated in November, it has fallen this month, which had not occurred since April. It still remains slightly over its average.

The balance of opinion on stock levels has picked up in December while it was virtually stable since August 2020. It has nearly reached its long-term average level.

Concerning employment, the balance of opinion on expected workforce has improved; it had been roughly stable since July. It has neared its pre-crisis level without fully catching up. The balance on past change in workforce size, that had returned above its long-term average level last month, has continued to improve, though only slightly this month.

The business climate has improved in industry except for the manufacturing of food products and beverage and the automotive sector

In December, the business climate has improved in most industrial sectors. The synthetic indicator has even exceeded its pre-crisis level in two sub-sectors: in the manufacture of machinery and equipments goods, it has reached its highest point since February 2020, in the other manufacturing sector (metal products, repair and installation, chemicals, etc.) it has reached its highest point since September 2019. However, in the manufacture of food products and beverages, the climate has worsened again. Finally, results are mixed in the manufacture of transport equipments this month. In the motor vehicles sub-sector the business climate has declined, although this result should be considered cautiously due to a lower rate of response this month compared to last month. Conversely, the climate in the other transport equipment sub-sector has very slightly improved.

Business climates in a sector-based approach

Business climates in a sector-based approach
(C1) (C3) (C4) (C5)
2011-01 109.4 105.3 105.3 105.2
2011-02 107.6 103.3 99.9 108.4
2011-03 106.8 107.6 106.3 109.7
2011-04 109.0 105.7 105.9 109.9
2011-05 109.6 104.3 105.3 107.6
2011-06 108.7 105.4 109.5 108.9
2011-07 111.2 103.4 104.0 105.0
2011-08 103.6 101.4 101.9 100.5
2011-09 101.9 100.3 99.0 98.2
2011-10 104.3 98.9 100.4 96.5
2011-11 102.2 96.6 102.3 94.3
2011-12 98.1 96.9 100.3 94.7
2012-01 99.8 96.8 95.2 94.3
2012-02 100.4 96.7 93.9 96.1
2012-03 102.2 97.3 103.0 97.3
2012-04 99.1 96.7 94.2 98.0
2012-05 93.6 95.4 95.1 96.1
2012-06 94.8 91.7 95.9 93.9
2012-07 94.8 91.4 95.3 92.6
2012-08 93.8 91.0 95.4 93.7
2012-09 96.7 91.7 97.3 93.8
2012-10 91.1 86.6 95.8 89.6
2012-11 98.4 87.9 93.0 92.5
2012-12 98.9 88.3 92.6 92.1
2013-01 97.7 88.4 92.7 91.5
2013-02 98.1 89.4 94.5 90.5
2013-03 94.1 89.6 94.1 91.5
2013-04 91.8 90.4 93.1 89.5
2013-05 91.7 90.3 95.1 92.1
2013-06 92.6 89.9 95.0 93.5
2013-07 92.3 90.4 99.0 95.1
2013-08 95.4 92.5 101.6 97.3
2013-09 95.0 90.9 97.8 97.3
2013-10 95.6 91.2 103.8 97.9
2013-11 98.2 93.5 102.1 98.8
2013-12 98.7 92.6 100.2 99.3
2014-01 99.6 92.1 102.6 98.8
2014-02 99.3 94.6 98.2 98.5
2014-03 99.9 93.5 100.8 102.5
2014-04 95.9 93.3 103.0 100.3
2014-05 98.1 94.5 98.5 99.6
2014-06 96.0 92.6 98.3 98.7
2014-07 97.1 90.1 99.5 99.2
2014-08 95.4 94.2 98.0 100.7
2014-09 94.4 92.9 101.0 97.3
2014-10 95.7 93.3 97.5 98.6
2014-11 96.3 92.9 100.3 99.9
2014-12 99.2 92.9 99.9 100.2
2015-01 103.3 94.3 101.9 99.8
2015-02 99.6 95.9 101.3 100.3
2015-03 100.8 94.9 105.3 100.2
2015-04 104.6 97.4 107.1 100.7
2015-05 102.3 97.9 105.1 101.6
2015-06 105.3 98.0 105.2 101.0
2015-07 108.9 99.1 105.0 102.9
2015-08 103.5 98.3 107.9 101.7
2015-09 105.5 97.0 109.1 102.6
2015-10 104.3 99.0 107.9 99.9
2015-11 102.3 100.4 107.8 99.6
2015-12 99.8 98.9 107.8 101.7
2016-01 101.8 101.4 108.1 99.5
2016-02 100.3 101.4 109.0 100.0
2016-03 101.8 100.1 106.0 101.2
2016-04 105.7 101.0 109.3 101.3
2016-05 103.6 98.3 106.1 103.9
2016-06 103.3 98.1 106.0 101.6
2016-07 104.6 98.5 105.3 101.9
2016-08 99.5 99.0 104.0 101.6
2016-09 108.7 99.3 105.3 100.6
2016-10 106.6 98.3 105.8 101.2
2016-11 107.8 100.5 102.5 101.4
2016-12 108.3 104.3 104.6 104.7
2017-01 104.1 103.2 106.8 105.3
2017-02 105.7 104.6 106.5 106.4
2017-03 104.7 105.6 105.6 104.9
2017-04 103.9 107.9 106.2 107.9
2017-05 106.3 109.5 105.6 107.3
2017-06 112.0 109.1 105.3 108.6
2017-07 108.9 109.7 108.4 107.0
2017-08 109.2 107.4 108.6 108.6
2017-09 106.9 108.0 109.4 108.6
2017-10 111.2 110.2 108.6 110.2
2017-11 112.3 110.3 109.3 111.0
2017-12 110.8 111.8 110.3 110.4
2018-01 111.4 113.3 112.1 110.8
2018-02 110.4 111.4 112.2 110.1
2018-03 109.7 110.8 111.5 109.4
2018-04 109.8 110.9 112.7 107.9
2018-05 108.2 111.8 108.3 108.0
2018-06 110.1 108.6 109.9 105.9
2018-07 108.1 108.9 106.1 106.8
2018-08 108.3 108.6 106.7 106.1
2018-09 106.9 107.9 105.2 105.0
2018-10 102.5 107.5 103.8 102.7
2018-11 108.8 102.5 104.2 102.7
2018-12 107.4 102.8 102.3 102.1
2019-01 107.6 104.1 102.5 101.9
2019-02 108.8 105.3 100.8 101.5
2019-03 107.7 101.4 103.0 101.7
2019-04 107.3 102.1 101.4 101.2
2019-05 112.0 104.6 102.6 102.6
2019-06 108.2 99.5 100.8 101.1
2019-07 104.5 103.7 99.4 100.9
2019-08 108.9 100.4 101.6 102.1
2019-09 108.1 100.2 101.3 101.7
2019-10 105.7 97.0 100.8 98.9
2019-11 102.8 98.4 105.6 100.7
2019-12 107.5 97.8 99.2 97.7
2020-01 107.3 101.5 105.5 99.2
2020-02 108.2 99.9 100.1 100.5
2020-03 109.1 98.8 96.2 97.6
2020-04 92.8 77.3 73.8 73.8
2020-05 90.3 75.8 75.8 74.7
2020-06 90.7 79.2 77.5 79.5
2020-07 90.0 85.8 80.6 82.3
2020-08 97.1 92.2 92.0 88.6
2020-09 102.3 91.9 92.3 93.1
2020-10 94.4 95.3 91.8 94.9
2020-11 90.8 92.2 90.0 94.7
2020-12 87.8 99.0 83.1 100.9

Business climates in a sector-based approach

  • Legend: (C1): Manufacture of food products and beverages - (C3): Machinery and equipment goods - (C4): Manufacture of transport equipment - (C5): Other manufacturing
  • Source: INSEE

Business climates in a sector-based approach

Average = 100 and standard deviation = 10 since 1990
Business climates in a sector-based approach (Average = 100 and standard deviation = 10 since 1990)
NA* : (A17) et [A38 et A64] Weights** (%) Oct. 20 Nov. 20 Dec. 20
(C1) Man. of food products and beverages 21 94 91 88
(C3) Machinery and equipment goods 11 95 92 99
[CI] Computer, electronic and optical products 3 90 90 99
[CJ] Electrical equipment 3 97 92 96
[CK] Machinery and equipment 5 97 94 100
(C4) Man. of transport equipment 18 92 90 83
[CL1] Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers 9 112 106 95
[CL2] Other transport equipment 10 77 77 78
(C5) Other manufacturing 46 95 95 101
[CB] Textiles, clothing industries, leather and footwear industry 2 96 89 92
[CC] Wood, paper, printing 5 104 104 109
[CE] Chemicals and chemical products 8 79 85 100
[CG] Rubber and plastic products 7 103 97 103
[CH] Basic metals and fabricated metal products 11 98 98 98
[CM] Other manufacturing industries 9 99 96 96
  • * NA: aggregated classification, based on the French classification of activities NAF rév.2.
  • ** Weights used to aggregate sub-sector's balances of opinion.
  • Source: INSEE - Monthly business tendency survey in industry

For further information

A balance of opinion is the difference between the weighted percentage of « above normal » or « increase » answers and the weighted percentage of « below normal » or « decrease » answers.

Since the definitive data of April 2020, the way of correcting non-response has been modified. The usual method was to fill in missing answers by carrying on past answers from non-responding companies. Results are now computed on the sole basis of responding companies.

Responses of enterprises have been collected between 27 November and 14 December 2020.

Additional information (methodology, links, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab.

Next issue: 21 January 2021 at 8:45 am.

Documentation

Methodology (pdf,133 Ko)

Monthly outlook survey in industry

Aggregated classification - NA, 2008

Pour en savoir plus

A balance of opinion is the difference between the weighted percentage of « above normal » or « increase » answers and the weighted percentage of « below normal » or « decrease » answers.

Since the definitive data of April 2020, the way of correcting non-response has been modified. The usual method was to fill in missing answers by carrying on past answers from non-responding companies. Results are now computed on the sole basis of responding companies.

Responses of enterprises have been collected between 27 November and 14 December 2020.

Additional information (methodology, links, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab.

Next issue: 21 January 2021 at 8:45 am.

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr

Publication calendar

Time series : Industry - Activity and demand