The French economy has experienced stronger than expected growth in the second quarter of this year. The initial estimate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was +0.3%, exceeding the previous forecast of +0.1% between April and June.
In the first quarter, French GDP grew by 0.1%, having been revised slightly downward from the 0.2% initially estimated.
This increase in economic growth is largely due to the solid pace of exports, especially in the area of transport materials, while imports also picked up, albeit less pronounced.
In addition, quarterly growth was driven by the dynamics of the manufacturing industry, the market services sector, and energy production, thanks in large part to the reopening of nuclear power plants.
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire celebrated the “outstanding performance” of the French economy during this quarter, indicating an improvement in the country’s economic activity.
On the other hand, household consumption decreased by 0.4% in the second quarter, highlighting a significant fall of 2.7% in the food sector, which is still affected by high inflation. However, in June, food consumption experienced an increase of 2.5%, according to statistics published separately by Insee.
Finally, the institute also revised growth for the last quarter of 2022 slightly downward, from 0.2% to 0.1%, without affecting the general progress of 2.5% for the whole year. This suggests that despite the slight downward revision, France’s overall economic performance in 2022 will remain strong.