France GDP Stagnates In Q4
(RTTNews) - The French economy failed to expand in the last two quarters of 2023 as the improvement in foreign trade was offset by the falling investment and household spending.
Gross domestic product posted nil growth in the fourth quarter, the same rate as seen in the third quarter, flash data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Tuesday.
GDP had expanded 0.7 percent in the second quarter and was flat in the first quarter.
Consequently, the economic growth for the whole year softened to 0.9 percent from 2.5 percent in 2022.
In the fourth quarter, final domestic demand excluding inventories contributed negative 0.1 points to GDP growth.
This was due to the 0.7 percent fall in gross fixed capital formation and 0.1 percent decrease in household consumption.
Government spending increased 0.3 percent each in the fourth and third quarter.
On the other hand, foreign trade contributed positively by 1.2 points to growth.
The decline in imports deepened to 3.1 percent from 0.4 percent. Exports fell modestly by 0.1 percent after a 0.6 percent decline.
Finally, the contribution of inventory changes to GDP growth was negative again this quarter, by 1.1 points.
Another report from the INSEE showed that household consumption growth softened in December reflecting a decrease in food consumption.
The monthly increase in household spending halved to 0.3 percent from 0.6 percent in November.
Food consumption declined 0.7 percent, while spending on energy was up 1.7 percent and purchases of manufactured goods gained 0.6 percent.
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