The figure comes from the Institut Montaigne, not an Algerian organisation: some 600 French businesses exporting to Algeria went bankrupt during the 2025 crisis. Of the roughly 5,000 French businesses exporting to Algeria, one third earn more than a quarter of their revenue in that market.
And that is not the only painful figure. Trade between France and Algeria fell from €11.2 billion in 2024 to €9.3 billion in 2025. Nearly €2 billion in trade vanished in a year, while China, Türkiye and Italy continued to gain ground.
So that is the bill for this remarkable bout of Algeria-bashing: French politicians turned Algeria into an electoral punching bag, sections of the media fuelled the escalation, and French businesses ultimately paid the price.
Yet the favourite pretext was shaky from the outset: “Algeria refuses to take back its nationals.” France’s own figures told a different story. In 2023, the proportion of consular travel documents issued within the required time was 34.9% for Algeria, 37.1% for Morocco and 33.9% for Tunisia. Nor was there proof that everyone referred to Algeria was actually Algerian: in 2023, the nationality recognition rate was just 47.1%.
But explaining that a state checks the identity of someone it is being asked to take back would have spoiled the show. Repeating that “Algeria is humiliating France” was so much more effective.
Bruno Retailleau made it a political calling card just as he was seeking the leadership of Les Républicains. Emmanuel Macron himself eventually warned against “political games” surrounding relations between France and Algeria. A few weeks later, Retailleau won the LR leadership with 74.31% of the vote.
In Algiers, the manoeuvre had long been understood. In March 2025, Abdelmadjid Tebboune refused to be drawn into France’s “uproar” and “political chaos”, explaining that Emmanuel Macron remained his “sole point of reference”.
That did not stop the Algeria-bashing. Retailleau was not alone: sections of the right, the far right and the Bolloré media sphere had grasped the political rewards on offer. With Algiers, every disagreement became a national humiliation and every Algerian response justified another escalation.
Throughout this Algerian episode, some French politicians above all served their own interests. Retailleau won control of his party. News channels gained viewers. Pundits gained invitations. China, Italy and Türkiye gained ground.
An entire media and political establishment, embodied by Retailleau and Bolloré, has made fools of the French. But the bill is steep.
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