Growth bounces back in France, an "exceptional performance" welcomes Bruno Le Maire

It's better than expected.

According to a first estimate from INSEE published on Friday, GDP "is approaching its pre-crisis level".

The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies expected growth to rebound by 0.7% in the second quarter, while the Banque de France expected around + 1%.

INSEE also indicates that it has revised slightly upwards the evolution of GDP in the first quarter, now estimated to be stable, and not down 0.1%, as indicated at the end of May.

"I want to salute this exceptional performance of the French economy, it is a source of pride for the French", reacted Friday morning on France Inter the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.

“It validates the economic choices that have been made by the government and by the President of the Republic since the first day of the crisis: to protect businesses.

"

. @ BrunoLeMaire: "The growth figures are higher than expected: INSEE had anticipated + 0.7%, we are at + 0.9%. This is an exceptional performance for the French economy, so same as in the first quarter there was a month of confinement. "

# le79Inter pic.twitter.com/mXkIW26D2h

- France Inter (@franceinter) July 30, 2021

Growth benefited from an acceleration in investment (+ 1.1%) and household consumption (+ 0.9%), in particular in accommodation and food services and transport services, due to the reopening of bars and restaurants and resumption of travel.

Growth of 6% over the year

However, consumption remains "well below its pre-crisis level", specifies INSEE, having been further penalized by the closures of so-called non-essential shops, which has reduced purchases of manufactured goods.

On the production side, the activity of market services accelerated sharply (+ 2% after + 0.1%) in the first quarter, in particular in the hotel and catering industry (+ 29.1% after -14%).

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The production of goods rebounded (+ 0.6% after -0.2%), while construction continued to recover. Conversely, foreign trade continued to weigh on growth, with imports still growing faster than exports. For the year as a whole, INSEE expects growth of 6%, after the 8% recession suffered in 2020, a forecast similar to those of the government and the European Commission. The Banque de France anticipates growth of 5.75%. "This should allow us to return to the pre-crisis level of activity at the start of 2022", according to Bruno Le Maire.