French economy grows 0.9% in 2023, stagnant in second half

Paris: The French economy grew 0.9 percent in 2023 but stagnated in the last two quarters of the year, official data showed on Tuesday.

The annual growth figure in the eurozone's second biggest economy was just under the government's forecast of one percent and down from 2.5 percent in 2022.

France recorded zero growth most of the year except in the second quarter when the economy expanded by 0.7 percent, according to the INSEE statistics agency.


Growth of household consumption, a key driver of the economy, slowed to 0.7 percent overall in 2023, falling slightly in the last three months of the year.

France, however, has performed better than Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, which is expected to be in recession in 2023 and 2024.

"The global environment, and so external demand for France, was better than feared," Olivier Garnier, the chief economist of the Bank of France, told the National Assembly earlier this month.

The government expects the economy to accelerate this year with a forecast of 1.4 percent growth.

But central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told the newspaper La Tribune that the economy would grow 0.9 percent again in 2024.