XINHUA – France’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1 per cent in volume terms in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, following a 0.4-per-cent increase in the previous quarter, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) announced last week.
The contraction was partly attributed to the fading economic boost from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, which had fuelled growth in the preceding quarter, INSEE noted.
In Q4 2024, household consumption slowed slightly, with a decline in services consumption, while goods consumption continued to rise, INSEE reported. Despite this, final domestic demand, excluding inventories, contributed positively to GDP growth in the quarter.
Regarding trade, France’s exports rebounded from a 0.8-per-cent decline in the third quarter to a 0.4-per-cent increase in Q4. Imports also returned to growth, rising by 0.4 per cent after a 0.3-per-cent decline in the previous quarter.
However, the overall contribution of foreign trade to GDP growth was neutral, INSEE said.
For the full year of 2024, France’s GDP grew by an average of 1.1 percent, the institute confirmed.
According to an economic and financial analysis by ING, ending 2024 with a GDP contraction signals a weak carry-over effect for 2025, making the government’s forecast of 0.9 percent growth for the year difficult to achieve.
ING projected “very weak growth in the first quarter of 2025” and forecast that GDP would expand by only 0.6 per cent over the year.
Though a recovery is expected in 2026, given the challenging international environment and France’s restrictive fiscal policy, growth could remain limited to one per cent, ING added.
