PARIS (AFP) – This year’s Olympic Games boosted the French economy with gross domestic product rising 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, the INSEE statistics agency said yesterday.
After registering growth of 0.2 per cent in each of the first two quarters, the economy was “boosted by the Olympics” in July and August, the agency said.
Household consumption, which accounts for half of GDP, rose by 0.5 per cent during the quarter.
“A large part of this increase (around half) is linked to the consumption of recreational services in connection with the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games,” INSEE said in a statement. Foreign trade expanded by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, slowing from 0.2 per cent growth in the second quarter, as imports fell faster than exports. Imports were down by 0.7 per cent and exports by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter.
The French government, which is battling a major debt crisis, has predicted that the economy will grow by about 1.0 per cent in 2024.
INSEE calculated that if GDP remains stable in the fourth quarter that growth already registered this year will result in a 1.1 per cent expansion overall for 2024.
