French economy grows more than expected in second quarter

French Chief of Staff to the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Jérôme Fournel (L)

French Chief of Staff to the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Jérôme Fournel (L) leaves after a meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on July 16, 2024, ahead of Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Paris, France — France’s economy expanded by a forecast-beating 0.3 percent in the second quarter, the national statistics institute reported on Tuesday.

The quarter-on-quarter growth outperformed the INSEE institute’s earlier estimate of 0.1 percent, lifted by foreign trade and a recovery in corporate investment.

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Domestic demand made a small positive contribution to growth while household spending, a main driver of first-quarter expansion, was steady in the three months to June.

INSEE also revised its first-quarter growth estimate to 0.3 percent from a previous 0.2 percent.

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