Growth in French economic activity reached 2.6% in 2022, marked however by a slowdown in the fourth quarter due to a sharp decline in household consumption in a context of high inflation, INSEE said on Tuesday. .
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, immediately hailed the “exceptional capacities for resistance (…)” of French companies and employees.
This figure "testifies to the strong rebound of our economy after the shock of the Covid and its resilience in the face of the energy crisis", rejoiced the number two of the government, who initially counted on an annual growth of 2.7% (against a forecast of 2.5% for INSEE).
In 2022, gross domestic product (GDP) benefited above all from the rebound in activity recorded in the second part of 2021 “at the end of the health crisis”, explained the statistical institute.
Quarterly growth “was then much less dynamic,” he said.
However, the figures are better than expected, as INSEE was expecting GDP up by 2.5% and a contraction of 0.2% in the fourth quarter.
Sharp drop in household consumption
After the economy grew by 0.2% in the third quarter, the last three months of the year were marked by a sharp fall in household consumption, penalized by a decline in purchases of food products, which experienced a double-digit price increases.
Energy consumption also fell in the fourth quarter, due to a very mild autumn but also to energy sobriety efforts.
The production of goods and services over the October-December period decelerated, affected by the fall strikes in the refineries and, in trade, by lower household consumption.
In the energy sector, it remained "low", according to INSEE, disturbed by the maintenance of nuclear reactors.
Conversely, foreign trade made a positive contribution to GDP growth, with imports falling more sharply than exports.
Although they continued to progress, investments lost momentum (0.8% after 2.3% in the third quarter).
