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France Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; the best banks in France; country and population overview

DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION
Central bank Bank of France (2009)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold $204.4 billion (2008)
Gross Domestic Product - GDP 2,853,062 millions of US dollars (2009)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) 2,112,426 millions of International dollars (2009)
Real GDP growth
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
1.8% 1.1% 1.1% 2.2% 1.9% 2.4% 2.3% 0.3%

2009: -2.4% (estimate)    

2010: 0.9% (forecast)

GDP per capita - current prices $42,091 (2009 estimate)
GDP per capita - PPP $33,744 International Dollars (2009 estimate)
GDP (PPP) - share of world total 2.921% (2010 forecast)
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 2.2%
  • industry: 20.3%
  • services: 77.4% (2008 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) 2.12% (2006)
Inflation

3.2% (2008)

0.3% (2009)
Unemployment rate 7.9% (2008)
9.5% (2009 estimate)
10.3% (2010 forecast)
Household saving rates 12.3% (2007)
Public debt (% of GDP) 70.11% (2008)
Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: AAA/Stable/A-1+

Moody's rating: Aaa

Moody's outlook: STA

(Foreign Currency Government Bond Ratings; Data last updated Nov 2009)
Market value of publicly traded shares US$2.771 trillion (31 December 2007)
Largest companies in France Total, GDF Suez, EDF Group, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole (2009)
FT top 50 banks in the world by market value 2009
  • BNP Paribas
  • Credit Agricole
  • Société Générale
DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS
Current account balance US$ -83.488 billion (2008)
Shares in world total merchandising export 3.97% (2007)
Shares in world total commercial services export 4.15% (2007)
Total exports US$761 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Export commodities machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
Total imports US$833 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)
Import commodities machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals
Exports - major partners Germany 14.9%, Spain 9.3%, Italy 8.9%, UK 8.1%, Belgium 7.3%, US 6.1%, Netherlands 4.1% (2007)
Imports - major partners Germany 18.9%, Belgium 11.4%, Italy 8.4%, Spain 7.1%, Netherlands 7%, UK 5.6%, US 4.4%, China 4% (2007)
FDI inflows
2007 2008
US$157.973 million US$117.510 million
FDI outflows
2007 2008
US$224.652 million US$220.046 million(2009)
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
2007 2008 2009 (Jan-Jun)
US$78.108 million(2009) US$56.617 million(2009) US$30.692 million(2009)
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2007

(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)

Groupe Danone SA, Koninklijke Numico NV, Netherlands, $15.0 billion
Unibail Holding SA, Rodamco Europe NV, Netherlands, $14.2 billion
Metrovacesa SA, Metrovacesa SA, Spain, $6.8 billion
Schneider Electric SA, American Power Conversion Corp, United States, $6.1 billion
Investor Group, Cassa di Risparmio di Parma & Piacenza SpA, %4.8 billion
Cie Generale de Geophysique SA Veritas DGC Inc, United States, $3.3 billion
PAI Partners SA, Lafarge Roofing GmbH, Germany, $3.2 billion
(2009)

(for a monthly update on M&A click here )
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2008

(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)

Lafarge SA, OCI Cement Group, Egypt, $15.0 billion
Pernod Ricard SA, Vin & Sprit AB, Sweden, $8.9 billion
Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel, Citibank Privatkunden AG & Co KGaA, Germany, $6.6 billion
Investor Group, Steen & Strom ASA, Norway, $4.3 billion
Cie de Saint-Gobain SA, Maxit Holding GmbH, Germany, $3.3 billion
Banque Federale des Banques Populaires SA, Banque de Savoie, France, $3.2 billion
Xella International GmbH SPV, Xella International GmbH, Germany, $3.2 billion
(2009) (2009)

(for a monthly update on M&A click here )

Best countries for doing business

(ranking by country on a basis of 181, the first is the best)

Overall ranking: 31(2009) (2009)

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 22

Employing workers: 155(2009)

Registering property: 159(2009)

Getting credit: 43

Protecting investors: 73(2008 estimate)

Trading across border: 25(2009)

(2009)
Global competitiveness ranking
(ranking by country on a basis of 133, the first is the best)		 16 (2009/2010)(2009)
Economic freedom index

63.3 (2009)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed )
COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW
Time zone UTC+1
Total area 551,500 km2 (2006)
Capital Paris (2009)
Currency euros (EUR) (2009)
Government type republic (2009)
Languages French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Religions Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4%, overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Total population 62.32 million (2009 forecast)
Urban population as % of total population 77% (2006)
Population median age 39.0 years (2006)
Population growth rate 0.60% (2006)
Life expectancy 81 years (2007)
Adult literacy -
% of population living on less than $2 a day -
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

32.7 (1995)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating

Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2009)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population

146.25% (2007)

(sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 51.21% (2007)
Cost of living - Mercer index

(ranking by city on a basis of 143; the 1st is the most expensive and the 143rd is the least expensive; New York is the base city)

New York - Index: 100 (Base)

Paris: 13nd - Index: 95.1
Lyon: 62th - Index: 76.6 (2009)
CO2 emissions

6.1608 (2004)

(metric tons of CO2 per capita)
GLOBAL FINANCE RANKINGS AND AWARDS

WORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS

2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2009)
2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST TRADE FINANCE PROVIDERS

2009:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS BNP Paribas (Europe, 2009)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2009)
2008:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS BNP Paribas (Europe, 2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST DEVELOPED MARKET BANKS

2009:
  • BNP Paribas (Europe, 2009)
2008:
  • BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S MID YEAR SAFEST BANKS RANKINGS

(ranking of the 50 safest banks in the world; the first is the safest)
2009:
  • Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM) (44, 2009)
  • BNP Paribas (9, 2009)
  • Caisse des Dépots et Consignations (CDC) (2, 2009)
  • Crédit Agricole S.A. (19, 2009)
  • Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC) (45, 2009)
  • Société Générale(SG) (41, 2009)

WORLD'S BEST GLOBAL BANKS

2009:
  • Trade Finance BNP Paribas (Global, 2009)
2008:
  • Trade Finance BNP Paribas (Global, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST DERIVATIVES PROVIDERS

2009:
  • Best Equity Derivatives Provider Société Générale (Europe, 2009)
2008:
  • Best Equity Derivatives Provider Société Générale (Europe, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST INTERNET BANKS

2009:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Consumer Internet Banks HSBC (2009)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2009)
2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Consumer Internet Banks HSBC (2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks HSBC (2008)

WORLD'S BEST ISLAMIC FINANCE INSTITUTIONS

2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S SAFEST BANKS

2008:
  • OVERALL SAFEST Groupe Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) (National, 2008)
  • OVERALL SAFEST BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST SUB CUSTODIANS

2009:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS BNP Paribas (Western Europe, 2009)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2009)
2008:
  • REGIONAL WINNERS BNP Paribas (Western Europe, 2008)
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2008)

WORLD'S BEST INVESTMENT BANKS

2008:
  • COUNTRY WINNERS BNP Paribas (National, 2008)
ARTICLES AND COUNTRIES REPORTS FROM GLOBAL FINANCE ARCHIVE