World Business

French GDP slightly up in Q1

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-12 17:07

PARIS - French gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010, mainly due to improved foreign trade balance, the national statistics bureau INSEE announced Wednesday.

According to its latest report, the households' spending levelled out during the three-month period, down from the previous three-month reading of 0.9 percent.

Altogether, total domestic demand (excluding inventory changes) dropped 0.1 after a 0.5 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2009, and thus negatively contributed to GDP growth by 0.1 percentage point.

In the first quarter of 2010, the exports recorded a bounce of 3.9 percent, much higher than the 0.4 percent registered in the last quarter of 2009, while the imports decelerated from a 2.6 percent increase in the last quarter of 2009 to 2 percent. Accordingly, the favorable foreign trade balance buoyantly contributed to GDP growth by 0.4 percentage point.

Meanwhile, the national statistics revised the 2008 and 2009 whole year figures. It adjusted the 2008 overall economic growth from 0.3 percent to only 0.1 percent, whereas augmented the 2009 drop to 2.5 percent, bigger than the previously announced 2.2 percent decline.

For this year as a whole, the government has projected a 1.4 percent growth.

Based on the first quarter's reading, the French economy has to climb successively between 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent in each of the coming quarters to realize the whole year prediction, according to estimation by the Press Agency of France.