French growth stood at 0.1% in the third quarter, a clear slowdown

It is a virtual stagnation. Growth in France’s gross domestic product (GDP) barely reached 0.1% in the third quarter, driven by a rebound in household consumption, according to a first estimate from INSEE published Tuesday October 31. This modest progression between July and September marks a slowdown compared to the 0.6% growth recorded in the second quarter. For the year as a whole, INSEE anticipates growth of 0.9%, identical to the Banque de France’s forecast, and a little below that of the government (+1%).

“In a degraded environment, the French economy is holding up”said the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, on Tuesday, emphasizing that this resilience was part of an environment of interest rates “students” in order to curb inflation.

After sluggishness, household consumption of goods and services increased by 0.7% in the third quarter, marked in particular by an increase in food consumption, in a context of easing inflation. Spending on food was driven up by the increase in purchases of drinks, bakery and pasta, while tobacco consumption is decreasing again, details INSEE.