2018.02.2806:12:00UTC+00France GDP Growth Exceeds Estimate In 2017

France's economy grew more than previously estimated in 2017, second estimate from the statistical office Insee showed Wednesday.

In 2017 as a whole, economic growth improved to 2 percent from 1.1 percent in 2016. The rate for 2017 was revised up from 1.9 percent.

The statistical office confirmed the fourth quarter's gross domestic product growth at 0.6 percent. GDP had advanced 0.5 percent in the third quarter.

The expenditure-side breakdown showed that total gross fixed capital formation gained 1.2 percent after rising 0.9 percent, while household spending growth eased to 0.2 percent from 0.6 percent.

Overall, final domestic demand excluding inventory changes contributed by +0.5 points to GDP growth in the fourth quarter.

Foreign trade balance contributed positively to GDP growth by 0.6 points. Exports accelerated sharply by 2.4 percent, while imports grew only 0.3 percent.

Conversely, changes in inventories contributed negatively by 0.4 points.