Review of the year in France: “Can do better. » Willy-nilly with inflation and the risks of recession, French GDP remained stable in the fourth quarter of 2023 and increased by 0.9% over the whole year, after 2.5% in 2022, INSEE announced this Tuesday. Annual growth is thus close to the 1% forecast that the government had maintained, thanks to a strong second quarter at 0.7%.
Less gloriously, growth was zero in the other three quarters, the National Institute of Statistics having revised that of the third quarter upwards by 0.1 point on Tuesday, previously announced at -0.1%.
Decline in household consumption
Final domestic demand (excluding stocks) contributed negatively to GDP growth in the fourth quarter (-0.1 point after +0.4 point in the third), due to the decline in business investment (-0. 7% after +0.2%) and household consumption (-0.1% after +0.5%).
Conversely, foreign trade rebounded in the fourth quarter and contributed positively to GDP growth (+1.2 points after -0.1 points). Less due to exports, which are almost stable (-0.1% after -0.6%), than imports in sharp decline (-3.1% after -0.4%).
At the end of the fourth quarter, the growth overhang for 2024 amounts to 0.1%, a low figure which seems to make the government’s forecast of growth of 1.4% for the entire country quite optimistic. ‘year.