carried by foreign trade, France’s GDP is straightening up (+ 0.5 %) after the withdrawal recorded in the previous quarter, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
Le Monde
An unexpected upturn. After a decline of 0.2 % in the first quarter, France returned to growth from April to June, recording a more dynamic rebound than expected of its GDP which increased by 0.5 % in this second quarter, according to a first estimate published Friday July 29 by INSEE .
The good performance of the French economy in the second quarter is explained both by a clearly positive contribution of foreign trade to growth and a decrease in the consumption of households less marked than at the first quarter.
This estimate greater than expectations, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) having planned growth of + 0, 25 % and the Banque de France a growth of 0.2 %.
According to this first estimate of national accounts, which will have to be confirmed at the end of August by INSEE, imports fell 0.6 % in the second quarter, while exports jumped 0.8 %. >
The latter were “pulled in particular by transport services ( + 6.3 % after + 5.0 % in the first quarter) and spending of foreign travelers in France ( + 8.6 % after + 5.0 %) “details INSEE. “Conversely, exports of goods folded (- 0.6 % after + 1.4 %), especially in transport equipment and the food industry,” explains the institute.
Household consumption contracts again
As for consumption, a traditional engine of the French economy, it remains negative for purchases of goods (- 1.3 %), but purchases of services are clear upwards (+ 1.5 %). Two contradictory trends that lead to a global decline of 0.2 % of household consumption in the second quarter.
With the figures published on Friday, INSEE estimates the achievement of growth of the French economy for the year 2022.
A figure in accordance with the anticipation of annual growth of the government, and slightly higher than the expectations of the Banque de France or the IMF (+2.3 %). INSEE data is published in the aftermath of the publication of American growth figures in the second quarter ( – 0.9 % in annualized pace after – 1.6 % in the first quarter), which technically brought the country into recession.
In Europe, growth estimates for the euro zone and several major countries on the old continent must also be revealed on Friday morning.