# French public-works contractors report weakest order-book balance since 2016 > Insee’s October quarterly survey found deteriorating past and expected activity assessments, with order books at a level last seen in April 2016. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Infrastructure - Country: France - Published: 2026-10-25T01:05:39+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-25T01:05:39+00:00 - Event / data period: 2026-10 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026.md) French public-works contractors’ views of activity and order books weakened again in October, according to Insee’s quarterly survey. The balance of opinion on activity over the previous three months fell to -45, from -37 in July. The balance on expected activity for the next three months slipped to -44 from -43. These are survey balances showing the relative weight of favorable and unfavorable responses; they do not measure the change in construction output or the value of contracts. The overall order-book balance declined to -53 from -49 in July, a level Insee said had not been observed since April 2016. Assessments were particularly weak for public-client order books, whose balance reached -64, compared with -60 in July. The balance for private-client order books fell to -51 from -40. The split points to deterioration across both customer groups, although it does not quantify the amount of work in each contractor’s backlog. The deterioration in past activity has continued from the start of 2026. Insee’s series puts the past-activity balance at -8 in January, -29 in April, -37 in July and -45 in October. Expected activity followed a similar downward path, falling from -25 in January to -38 in April, -43 in July and -44 in October. The agency said both indicators remained well below their long-run averages. Comparisons describe survey sentiment over successive quarters, not quarterly growth rates. The responses were not uniformly worse across every indicator. The balance on expected employment improved slightly to -17 in October from -19 in July, but remained below its long-run average of -11. Insee also said the public-client activity outlook balance rose slightly after six consecutive quarterly declines, although it remained well below average. The private-client outlook continued to fall for a fourth consecutive quarter. This divergence suggests that expectations differed by customer type, even within an overall weak sector survey. Demand constraints were increasingly common: 64% of surveyed contractors cited insufficient demand as a difficulty in October, up from 56% in July and above the long-run average of 37%. By contrast, 12% cited insufficient personnel, down from 20% and below the long-run average of 19%. Difficult weather was cited by 11%, compared with 33% in July. These are shares of respondents identifying constraints, not estimates of lost output or unfilled jobs. The survey also showed the balance for perceived economic uncertainty rising for a sixth consecutive quarter to its highest level since the series began in 2021. Payment delays were reported in the survey table as a balance of 28 in October, down from 33 in July but above the long-run average of 22. Such balances summarize opinion; they do not reveal how many days invoices were overdue or the cash impact on each firm. The constraint responses add detail to the weak activity and order-book readings. Insufficient demand was cited by 64% of contractors, compared with a long-run average of 37%; insufficient personnel was cited by 12%, below its 19% average. Expected employment had a balance of -17, improving from -19 in July but remaining below its long-run average of -11. Demand therefore stood out as the most frequently reported difficulty in this survey round. ## Data ### Selected INSEE survey indicators Indicators reported in the October 2026 release. Survey opinion balances and synthetic climate indices describe responses, not realized economic output. Methodology: Insee’s quarterly public-works business survey for October 2026. Activity and order-book opinion balances are reported in percent and seasonally adjusted (CVS); they are not output levels. Difficulty figures are percentages of surveyed businesses selecting each constraint. Values compare October with the prior quarterly observations and the long-run averages published by Insee. | label | value | unit | period | basis | |---|---|---|---|---| | Past-activity opinion balance (%) | -45 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | | Expected-activity opinion balance (%) | -44 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | | Order-book opinion balance (%) | -53 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | | Firms reporting insufficient demand as a difficulty | 64 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | | Firms reporting insufficient personnel as a difficulty | 12 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | | Expected-employment opinion balance (%) | -17 | percent | 2026-10 | observed | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026/data/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026/data/france-public-works-business-survey-october-2026?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee)]() (Source checked: 2026-10-25; Published: 2026-10-23) --- Cite the canonical URL above. 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