French 10-Year Bond Yield Touches 5%, First Time Since 2002

France's 10-year OAT yield, the benchmark for French government borrowing, touched 5% on 21 October 2026, its first time at that level since July 2002, according to Reuters. A yield is the annual return a bond pays. Higher yields raise what France pays to borrow, and they feed into loan and mortgage pricing across the economy.