France has been classed 11th in the world for its economy in a new ranking, putting it ahead of countries including the UK, US, and Germany.
The ranking, by respected British magazine The Economist, came out in late December 2025, and said that “despite its political chaos, France has a pretty good score”.
The list comprises 36 countries. It is based on five indicators (and their % change year-on-year):
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Inflation
Inflation breadth (where prices are rising by more than a target level)
GDP
Employment
Share prices
France’s good score is mainly due to its low inflation rate (French economy and statistics bureau INSEE put this at 0.9% year-on-year in November). Similarly, its growth contributed to the positive score, at 0.9% GDP in 2025 (higher than the predicted 0.8%).
France’s Employment rating was also positive, showing a 1.5% increase. Its Share prices indicator increased by 7.6%.
France’s position puts it ahead of a majority of other countries on the list including some major economies such as Germany (20th place), Norway (29th), and the UK (27th).
The UK saw a 15.2% increase in Share prices, a 1.3% increase in GDP, and 0.9% in Employment.
The Economist economy rankings 2025ConnexionFrance / The Economist / Canva
‘Could have been worse’
Overall, The Economist concluded that “it could have been a lot worse”, with economists having “braced for a steep global recession” after US President Donald Trump “started his trade war”.
Instead, it said, “global GDP will probably grow by around 3% this year”, “unemployment remains low almost everywhere” and “stockmarkets have logged another year of respectable gains”. “Only inflation is really a worry”, it said, as it largely remains above central banks’ 2% targets in the OECD.
Portugal on top
Portugal emerged as this year’s dominant nation, taking the top spot. The magazine said that in 2025, Portugal “combined strong GDP growth, low inflation and healthy markets”, as well as benefiting from thriving tourism, and “wealthy foreigners moving there to take advantage of low taxes”.
The ranking does not take into account public debt or deficit, but The Economist did note that almost all of the southern European countries that were badly affected by the debt crisis at the start of the 2010s are still “near the top” of the list even now. Greece, for example, came in 6th place (after coming in 1st place in 2022 and 2023).
US ‘not spectacular’
Internationally, the US came in 17th place, behind most European nations on the list, including Slovenia and Poland. The magazine said that its “employment market is solid but not spectacular” and that "relatively high inflation caused its score to plummet”.
This position also puts the US behind other North and South American nations including Canada and Colombia.
The country in last place on the ranking (36th position) is Slovakia, with Austria (33rd) and Finland (35th) also coming up the rear, close to non-European nations New Zealand (31st) and Mexico (30th).
