About 1,500 French businesses were affected during a weekend of unrest, with damage estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros. European markets opened lower as France’s divided Parliament debated the 2027 budget.
At Carrefour, 50 stores were damaged and 20 were looted.
Alexandre Bompard, head of the French retail federation FCD and chief executive of Carrefour, put the damage to French businesses in the hundreds of millions of euros. Around 1,500 shops were affected during weekend unrest that followed protests over the cost of living and public services. Attacks were reported in Paris and Lyon, as well as Marseille and Bordeaux. Other affected cities included Rennes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Nice and Limoges. Supermarkets and clothing stores were among the targets, alongside luxury stores, bars and vape shops. Carrefour expects repair costs to exceed €10 million. Bompard said the group’s total losses, including theft and operational disruption, could reach tens of millions of euros.
Retailers say they were left exposed. The head of outdoor equipment chain Snowleader said he called police after looters forced the door of its Lyon store. He was told to wait and call again on Tuesday if nobody came. The president of the Marseille city-centre traders’ association said local businesses had been abandoned by the authorities. Some franchise stores closed temporarily, and staff moved to reduced working hours.
Carrefour shares fell more than 2% at the start of Monday’s session. The CAC 40 was down 0.5%, while the broader Stoxx 600 lost more than 0.6%. The Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.1%.
Most other European markets also opened lower. Germany’s DAX fell more than 0.8%. Britain’s FTSE 100, Italy’s FTSE MIB and Spain’s IBEX 35 were down between 0.4% and 0.6% from Friday’s close. The Netherlands’ AEX rose more than 0.4%.
French borrowing costs climbed as a divided Parliament debated the 2027 budget. The 10-year bond yield stood at 4.86%, up 8 basis points, after reaching its highest level since 2002 earlier this month. Germany’s 10-year yield was around 3.41%, putting the gap between French and German debt at 143.5 basis points. Investors watch the spread as a measure of concern. It had topped 150 earlier in October, its widest level since the euro debt crisis. Moody’s is due to review France’s Aa3 credit rating on 23 October; the outlook is negative.
The euro fell 0.2% against the US dollar to about $1.121. It also lost 0.2% against sterling, trading around £0.841. Last week, it reached its weakest level against the dollar since mid-May 2025 and against the pound since early June 2025. Reuters reported that France’s debt problems and a stronger dollar outweighed the two European Central Bank rate rises so far this year. The ECB’s next meeting is scheduled for 29 October.
The unrest followed marches called on Saturday over the cost of living and the state of French schools. Authorities put nationwide attendance at about 550,000. Disturbances and looting were reported in Paris and Lyon, as well as Marseille and Bordeaux. Other cities were affected too. Attacks also targeted public buildings, including town halls and prefectures. The marches took place amid pressure on household budgets, a subject also covered in an earlier report.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 2,400 people had been arrested. Reports put the number of injured police officers, gendarmes and firefighters at between 500 and nearly 1,000. Nuñez acknowledged failures to anticipate events and a loss of control in some cities. He offered his resignation, but President Emmanuel Macron rejected it. Macron said through his office that security forces needed uninterrupted command.
Bompard said retailer losses would reach hundreds of millions of euros and called on the Republic to protect businesses. He warned that the destruction would have significant human and economic consequences for employees, suppliers and local economic activity. Thierry Guibert, chief executive of Lacoste, whose Lacoste and Aigle stores were looted, urged the French state to protect companies and employees. Thierry Cotillard of Intermarché said on social media that he was deeply outraged. Medef president Patrick Martin called the looting unacceptable.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was due to chair a crisis meeting on Monday. Trade Minister Serge Papin was scheduled to meet retail federations, banks and insurers. Unions have called a nationwide strike for 5 November.
