France saw its most turbulent protests in decades, with more than 550,000 people joining demonstrations, looting and fires breaking out in Paris, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux and other cities.3 The cost to shops would run to "several hundreds of millions of euros", Alexandre Bompard, president of the Retail and Trade Federation, told LCI television.1 In Brussels, police used tear gas and water cannon on protesters, and similar scenes played out in Liège.3 In Lisbon, tens of thousands marched against low wages, rising rents and housing costs.3
Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law and policy at HEC Paris Business School, told Al Jazeera that France is "the epicentre of this movement" and that early stages of protests in Europe are emerging in Greece, Germany and Austria, with mobilisation expected in the coming weeks.3
Why are energy prices rising so much faster in Belgium than the EU?
Belgium's 29.1% household energy rise in the year to September 2026 reflects a combination of its heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels and exposure to global energy supply disruptions. The European Commission notes that renewable energies accounted for only 9.5% of Belgium's gross available energy in 2024, one of the lowest shares in the EU, leaving Belgian households more exposed to swings in gas and oil prices.2
Those prices have been pushed sharply higher by disruption to Middle Eastern energy supplies. Oxford Economics reports that LNG-linked gas prices in Europe are around 130% above pre-conflict levels, driven by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March, which trapped Qatari and UAE exports that previously accounted for around 20% of global LNG trade.4 Belgium, with its low renewables share and reliance on natural gas, absorbs more of that shock than countries with diversified or nuclear-heavy energy mixes.2
European gas inventories are at their lowest for this time of year in over a decade, according to Oxford Economics, which warns that a cold winter could push prices even higher before any easing.4 The EU average energy rise of 8.2% in the same period shows how much national energy mix shapes the bill households actually face.
What are people in France and Belgium protesting about right now?
Protesters in France and Belgium took to the streets on Oct 17 over a broad mix of grievances: rising energy and food costs, low wages, unaffordable housing and pressure on public services and education.1 In France, high school pupils had already been clashing with police over missing teachers, dilapidated classrooms and an opaque university admissions system, and those student marches grew into wider demonstrations joined by union workers and other groups.5
The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France's largest unions, backed the protests and called for lower prices, higher pensions and boosted wages.5 In Belgium, students had demonstrated in recent weeks against rising university registration fees before the protests broadened; police arrested 195 people across Brussels and Liège on Oct 17.6 Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin said the situation was "no longer simply a protest," calling it "pure and simple violence."1
Energy price hikes, caused at least in part by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war, have contributed to rising prices in both countries, according to Business Insider.6 France's annual energy rise of 10.1% and Belgium's 29.1% in the year to September 2026 sit against a backdrop where household energy costs 45.7% more in France and 71.8% more in Belgium than in September 2021, squeezing budgets even as the annual inflation rate slows.
Which European countries are cheapest to live in after years of inflation?
The chart's price-level data for 2024 groups housing with water and energy and does not rank countries by overall affordability in a single comparable figure, so a definitive cheapest-country list is not available from these figures alone. What the Eurostat data does show is that Portugal recorded the smallest household energy rise among the four protesting countries: 1.7% in the year to September 2026, and only 25.3% above September 2021 levels, well below the EU average of 53.8%.
However, Portugal's relative energy stability has not shielded its residents from cost pressures elsewhere. Rents are Portugal's sharpest rise: tenants paid 5.2% more than a year earlier, against 2.9% for the EU, and 27.9% more than in September 2021. Housing prices in Portugal recorded the largest annual increase of any EU member state in the second quarter of 2026, rising 16.5%, and in Lisbon the average rent is equivalent to 116% of the average salary.6 Food costs 35.4% more in Portugal than five years ago, the steepest five-year grocery rise among the four countries in the chart.
What do economists say about inflation anger outlasting the inflation peak?
Economists and analysts point to a straightforward mechanism: even when annual inflation slows, prices do not fall back to where they were, so household budgets remain permanently squeezed compared with a few years ago.1 Euronews Business analysis of Eurostat data found that EU food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 34% between August 2021 and August 2026, and that the amount of food a gross monthly minimum wage could buy fell by 5% in Spain and 4% in France over that period.1
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investors, told Euronews Business that the protests are "weighing on financial markets," with France's CAC 40 and Italy's FTSE MIB both down over 1.5% on Oct 19, and that "the risk-off mood has spread to the bond and currency markets too, including French and Italian government debt and the euro."1 She added that the unrest "comes at an already unstable time for the French government with markets worrying about the 2027 budget bill, the challenging state of public finances and the looming presidential election next year."1
Will energy and rent costs in Europe keep rising into 2027?
Oxford Economics forecasts that global commodity prices will reach a record high in the fourth quarter of 2026, driven primarily by energy, before declining gradually through 2027 as Middle Eastern exports recover and supply constraints ease.4 The central forecast is for Brent crude to remain above $100 per barrel through the second quarter of 2027, and for natural gas prices to stay elevated through winter 2026-27.4
The pace of any easing is uncertain. Oxford Economics warns that European gas inventories are at their lowest for this time of year in over a decade, and that a cold winter combined with disruption to US LNG or Norwegian pipeline supplies could push gas prices towards $35 per MMBtu, while mild weather could limit the winter peak to around $21 per MMBtu.4 A cold spell would likely feed through to household energy bills in countries such as Belgium that rely heavily on gas and have low renewables capacity.2
On rents, the chart's HICP figures cover all tenants including long-running leases and rise more slowly than rents on new contracts; national averages also hide faster rises in cities such as Lisbon, Paris and Milan. Whether rent costs ease into 2027 will depend on housing supply and policy responses that no source in this article addresses directly.