Euro area September 10-year bond yields jump to 3.93%; France rises above Italy
The euro area's average 10-year government bond yield, a gauge of long-term borrowing costs, rose to 3.93% in September from 3.60% in August. Final data confirm European Union inflation at 3.8%.
A data update from FactIQ, written from EU institutions (Eurostat, ECB, EEA, and EU ETS) figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- Euro area 10-year government bond yield, September 2026 monthly average
- 3.93%up from 3.60% in August and 3.37% in June2022-10-012026-09-01Euro-area long-term interest rate for convergence purposes
- France 10-year government bond yield, September 2026 monthly average
- 4.44%up from 4.00%, above Italy at 4.36%2022-10-012026-09-0110-year government bond yield (long-term interest rate for convergence purposes), France
- European Union consumer price inflation, September 2026, year on year
- 3.8%up from 3.2% in August and 2.0% in January2022-10-012026-09-01HICP all-items inflation, European Union - 27 countries (from 2020)
- Poland 10-year government bond yield, September 2026 monthly average
- 6.23%up from 5.81%2022-10-012026-09-0110-year government bond yield (long-term interest rate for convergence purposes), Poland
France now pays more than Italy to borrow for 10 years
The European Central Bank (ECB) publishes monthly averages of 10-year government bond yields. These yields are the interest rates governments pay to borrow for ten years. In September, France averaged 4.44%, up from 4.00%. Italy averaged 4.36%. Germany averaged 3.47%, up 29 basis points (hundredths of a percentage point). France's premium over Germany widened to about 97 basis points from about 82. Italy's premium widened less, to about 89 from 80. The euro-area rate of 3.93% compares with 3.37% in June. Spain averaged 3.93% and Greece 4.22%.Yields also rose in central and eastern Europe
- Poland: 6.23%, up from 5.81%, a rise of 42 basis points.
- Romania: 6.71%.
- Hungary: 5.69%.
Final figures confirm EU inflation at 3.8%
The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) is the EU's common measure of consumer price changes. HICP inflation across the 27 EU countries was 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August and 2.0% in January. Final readings moved several early euro-area estimates by 0.1 percentage point. Italy was revised up to 4.2% (from 3.2% in August), Austria up to 3.6% and Belgium down to 4.5%. Outside the euro area, Poland rose to 4.0% from 3.5% and Czechia to 2.2% from 1.5%. Romania rose to 6.5% from 6.3%, well below 9.7% in May. Hungary and Denmark were both at 2.1%. Sweden rose to 1.0% from 0.3%.Rents are not adding to price pressure. Euro-area rents rose 2.6% from a year earlier, unchanged from August and down from 3.0% at end-2025. Ireland was the exception, at 6.3%, up from 5.5%.
The euro gained against the dollar in mid-October
The ECB's euro–dollar reference rate rose to 1.1253 on October 16 from 1.1181 on October 12. That was still below 1.1378 in late September. Euro-area official reserve assets fell to about €1.81tn (trillion euros) in September from €1.86tn in August. Unemployment held at 4.0% in the Netherlands. In Sweden, where the figure swings a lot from month to month, it eased to 8.6% from 8.9%.Source: EU institutions (Eurostat, ECB, EEA, and EU ETS). See all EU data in FactIQ.
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