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Business Daily

Why are so many French restaurants closing?

Business Daily

BBC

Business

4.4816 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re in France, where traditional eateries, bistros, and brasseries, once a huge part of the economy, as well as the culture of the country, are disappearing fast.

A few years ago, if you drove through France, you’d come across dozens of little restaurants. Now, in many small towns, you’ll only find a boulangerie and a takeaway. Restaurants serving traditional French food like steak and chips or coq au vin are closing at a rate of about 25 a day. The main problem: they’ve become too expensive.

If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presented and produced by John Laurenson Sound mix: Toby James

Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.

Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.

Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.

We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.

(Picture: Tables and chairs in a village square in Provence, France. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:07.5

Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm John Lawrenson. Today, I'm in France,

0:13.4

where traditional restaurants, once a huge part of the economy, as well as the culture of this

0:18.4

country, are disappearing fast.

0:31.3

Between June 2024 and June 2025, the number of restaurants that closed in France increased by 10%. About 9,800 closed for good in that period.

0:37.1

A few years ago, if you drove through France, you come across

0:40.1

dozens of little restaurants. Now, in many small towns, there's nothing but a boulangerie

0:45.0

and a pizza or donna-kebab place. Restaurants serving traditional French food like steak and chips,

0:51.4

cocoa v, or mussels in white wine sauce,

0:54.5

are closing at a rate of about 25 a day.

0:58.0

The main problem, they've become too expensive.

1:02.2

Inflation has been running at an annual rate of 16%

1:05.3

for restaurant business raw materials, really high.

1:08.9

But many restaurant owners raised their prices by 20% or more.

1:13.1

The result has been a big drop in the numbers of people coming to eat in them.

1:16.9

But the problem goes deeper than that.

1:19.0

Many places that have kept prices down are suffering too.

1:22.4

So are the French giving up on French restaurants?

1:25.9

Coming up in Business Daily.

1:35.3

Thank you. giving up on French restaurants. Coming up in Business Daily. The pleasant sound of life in the western French town of Angé.

1:40.3

The buildings are venerable, I think the word is, made out of white stone.

1:47.7

There are pretty parks and lots of people about, many of them young.

...

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