ESTIMATE: This figure is in line with the forecast published in early October by the National Statistics Institute …
Economic growth reached 0.5% in France in the third quarter, thanks to an acceleration in household consumption and a further increase in investment, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday by INSEE .
Le PIB augmente de 0,5 % au troisième trimestre 2017https://t.co/fx4jAwA4Mh
— Insee (@InseeFr) 31 October 2017
This figure is in line with the forecast published in early October by the National Statistics Institute. It supports the hypothesis of the government, which this year an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.8%.
The public body, also revised upwards the growth of the second quarter, reaching 0.6% instead of 0.5% previously announced, and that the last quarter of 2016 also increased from 0, 5% to 0.6%. The French economy has chained four quarters of growth above 0.5%, an unprecedented feat for 2010-2011.
Consumption and investment up
This strong momentum was made possible by a slight acceleration in household consumption expenditure (+ 0.5% after + 0.3% in the previous three months), driven primarily by purchases of services. Domestic demand contributed to growth up 0.6 points, highlights the Insee.
This trend also reflects a further increase in investment, both at company level (+ 0.9% after + 1.1% in the second quarter) and households (+ 1.1% after + 1.4 %), adds the public body.
