Finance
French economy ekes out meagre growth in first quarter on stock-building
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on April 30, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on April 30, 2025
PARIS (Reuters) - France's economy grew slightly in the first quarter as stagnant domestic demand and weak foreign trade were offset by companies rebuilding inventories, preliminary data from the INSEE statistics agency showed on Wednesday.
The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew by 0.1% in the first three months of the current year after a slight drop of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024, INSEE said in its quarterly GDP report.
A Reuters poll of 29 economists had on average forecast a 0.1% growth in gross domestic product in the first quarter, with estimates ranging from 0.0% to 0.3%.
The reading marks a weak start for what is likely to be a turbulent year for the French economy, although Finance Minister Eric Lombard said after the data were released that the government's 0.7% growth forecast was still in reach.
"The outlook for 2025 has clearly darkened and become more uncertain as a result of (U.S. President) Donald Trump's trade war. The government's desire to limit the public deficit will also have an impact," economist Sylvain Bersinger from consultancy Asteres said.
In the first quarter, consumer spending - traditionally the driver for French growth - was unchanged from the end of 2024 as car sales slid after a green subsidy scheme was reined in, while business investment eased 0.1%, INSEE said.
Meanwhile, foreign trade subtracted 0.4 percentage points from growth as imports grew 0.4% while exports fell 0.7%, despite the delivery of a cruise ship.
Inventories added 0.5 percentage points to growth due in particular to stock-building by chemicals, pharma and agro-food companies, INSEE said.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris and Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdnask; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Andrew Heavens)