Informations Rapides ·
24 February 2026 · n° 44
In February 2026, the business climate in services has darkened Monthly survey of services - February 2026
According to the business managers surveyed in February 2026, the business climate in services has deteriorated after two months of stability. At 95, the indicator that synthesises it has lost three points and has moved away from its long-term average (100).
According to the business managers surveyed in February 2026, the business climate in services has deteriorated after two months of stability. At 95, the indicator that synthesises it has lost three points and has moved away from its long-term average (100).
The opinion of business managers about their personal business outlook has deteriorated
In February 2026, the business managers in services are more pessimistic than in the previous month about their personal business outlook: the forward-looking balances of opinion on activity and on demand have sharply decreased and have moved away from their average. The one on past activity has retreated and has also moved away from its own. The business managers are also a little more pessimistic about the business outlook of their sector: the associated balance has slightly diminished and has left its long-term average.
The balance of opinion on expected change in the workforce size has sharply fallen back, below its average, whereas the one on their past change has rebounded, but also remains below its own.
The balances related to both past and expected change in selling prices have fallen back.
The balance on the economic uncertainty felt is virtually stable, just below its average.
tableauFigure3 – Economic outlook in the services sector
| Average* | Nov. 2025 | Dec. 2025 | Jan. 2026 | Feb. 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite indicator | 100 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 95 |
| General outlook | -7 | -7 | -5 | -7 | -8 |
| Past activity | 2 | -2 | -1 | 1 | -2 |
| Expected activity | 1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | -5 |
| Expected demand | 0 | -2 | -4 | -3 | -7 |
| Past selling prices | -3 | 0 | -2 | 2 | -2 |
| Expected selling prices | -2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Past employment | 2 | -7 | -5 | -11 | -9 |
| Past employment except temporary work agencies | 0 | -6 | -5 | -8 | -9 |
| Expected employment | 2 | -2 | -6 | -3 | -7 |
| Expected employment except temporary work agencies | -1 | -4 | -6 | -7 | -8 |
| Economic uncertainty felt** | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
- * Average since 1989 for the composite indicator and since 1988 for the balances of opinion, except general outlook (June 2000) and uncertainty (April 2021).
- ** Balance of opinion not seasonally adjusted.
- Source: INSEE, monthly business survey in services.
The business climate has darkened in all subsector of services
In February 2026, the business climate indicator in information-communication has retreated and has moved away from its long-term average. This is mainly due to the sharp downturn in the balance on past activity, which has nearly returned to its December 2025 level. The ones on both expected activity and workforce size have also fallen back and remain below their average.
In professional, scientific and technical activities, the business climate indicator has lost four points, and has moved away from its long-term average. The balances on business outlook, general as personal, have diminished again. The one on expected demand has sharply fallen back and has reached its lowest level since February 2021.
In administrative and support services, the business climate indicator has deteriorated again and has moved further away from its long-term average. In particular, the forward-looking balances on demand and on workforce size have sharply decreased, both remaining below their average. The one on past workforce size remains very deteriorated, well below its own.
In real estate activities, the business climate indicator has retreated, and has left its long-term average. The balance on past activity has sharply declined anew and has moved below its average; the ones on expected activity and on both past and expected workforce size have fallen back too.
In accommodation and food services, the business climate has diminished for the fourth month in a row and has moved further away from its long-term average. The forward-looking balances on activity, workforce size and demand have sharply decreased.
Finally, the business climate indicator in road freight transport has sharply retreated and has moved back below its average level. This decrease is mainly due to the sharp deterioration in the forward-looking balances on demand and on activity, which have moved back below their average. Conversely, the balance on past activity has sharply risen, while remaining below its own.
tableauFigure4 – Business climate composite indicator and balances of opinion by sub-sector in services
| Aggregated classification (NA 2008) at level A21 | Average* | Nov. 2025 | Dec. 2025 | Jan. 2026 | Feb. 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road transport (8%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 100 | 96 | 101 | 96 |
| General outlook | -19 | -18 | -17 | -13 | -19 |
| Past activity | -6 | 2 | 2 | -17 | -5 |
| Expected activity | -7 | -11 | -14 | -2 | -16 |
| Expected demand | -10 | -4 | -22 | -7 | -19 |
| Past employment | -6 | -12 | -5 | -8 | -6 |
| Expected employment | -7 | -9 | -19 | -9 | -14 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (8%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 99 | 98 | 97 | 95 |
| General outlook | -13 | -11 | -12 | -11 | -11 |
| Past activity | -7 | -5 | -15 | -11 | -9 |
| Expected activity | -8 | -13 | -7 | -14 | -25 |
| Expected demand | -9 | -16 | -13 | -15 | -19 |
| Past employment | -5 | -3 | -3 | 0 | -1 |
| Expected employment | -6 | -2 | -13 | -12 | -18 |
| Information and communication (29%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 98 | 98 | 99 | 97 |
| General outlook | 0 | -3 | 1 | -2 | -1 |
| Past activity | 8 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 6 |
| Expected activity | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Expected demand | 10 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Past employment | 6 | 0 | -7 | -6 | -3 |
| Expected employment | 10 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Real estate activities (10%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 94 | 96 | 100 | 95 |
| General outlook | -4 | -4 | -4 | -2 | -2 |
| Past activity | 6 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 5 |
| Expected activity | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Expected demand | 1 | -4 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Past employment | 2 | -6 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| Expected employment | 2 | -10 | -5 | 2 | -1 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities (25%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 96 | 98 | 98 | 94 |
| General outlook | -8 | -8 | -5 | -9 | -12 |
| Past activity | -1 | -9 | -12 | -7 | -8 |
| Expected activity | -3 | -8 | -4 | -5 | -10 |
| Expected demand | -6 | -10 | -10 | -7 | -15 |
| Past employment | 0 | -9 | -4 | -8 | -6 |
| Expected employment | 0 | -6 | -4 | -5 | -3 |
| Administrative and support service activities (18%) | |||||
| Composite indicator | 100 | 98 | 99 | 97 | 95 |
| General outlook | -3 | -5 | -3 | -7 | -5 |
| Past activity | 5 | -4 | 3 | -3 | -3 |
| Expected activity | 4 | 2 | 3 | -1 | -1 |
| Expected demand | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -2 |
| Past employment | 6 | -9 | -4 | -24 | -20 |
| Expected employment | 6 | 2 | -7 | 0 | -7 |
- The figures in parentheses indicate the weights used to aggregate the sub-sector balances of opinion. The “other services” sub-sector is not displayed due to its low weight.
- *Composite indicator: average since 1989 (2006 for road transport); balances of opinion: average since 1988, except general outlook since June 2000 (2006 for road transport).
- Source: INSEE, monthly business survey in services.
Revision
The business climate indicator in services of January has not been revised (after rounding).
For further information
The composite indicators of business climate presented here are estimated independently of one another. Thus, that of the whole services cannot be deduced from the others. The same balances of opinion are included into their calculations, but they are not assigned the same weightings. Also, the indicators are scaled to have a long-run average of 100 and a standard deviation of 10. The climate series do not have the same historical beginning, so their standardisation differs slightly. Discrepancies may therefore appear from time to time.
For the three-modality questions, a balance of opinion is calculated as the difference between the weighted percentage of “increase” responses and the weighted percentage of “decrease” responses.
This survey is part of the Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys, partly funded by the European Commission.
The responses to this survey were collected between 27 January and 19 February 2026; most companies answer during the first two weeks of collection.
Additional information (simplified and detailed methodology, nomenclature, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab of the web page of this publication.
Next issue: 26 March 2026 at 8:45 am.
Documentation
Changes to business tendency surveys – October 2021 (pdf,181 Ko)
Abbreviated methodology (in French) (pdf,193 Ko)
Pour en savoir plus
The composite indicators of business climate presented here are estimated independently of one another. Thus, that of the whole services cannot be deduced from the others. The same balances of opinion are included into their calculations, but they are not assigned the same weightings. Also, the indicators are scaled to have a long-run average of 100 and a standard deviation of 10. The climate series do not have the same historical beginning, so their standardisation differs slightly. Discrepancies may therefore appear from time to time.
For the three-modality questions, a balance of opinion is calculated as the difference between the weighted percentage of “increase” responses and the weighted percentage of “decrease” responses.
This survey is part of the Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys, partly funded by the European Commission.
The responses to this survey were collected between 27 January and 19 February 2026; most companies answer during the first two weeks of collection.
Additional information (simplified and detailed methodology, nomenclature, etc.) is available on the “Documentation” tab of the web page of this publication.
Next issue: 26 March 2026 at 8:45 am.