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France

Includes France real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about France economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of France best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Semi-presidential republic

Capital City: Paris

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of France

Currency Euros (EUR)

International Reserves USD 166.7 billion (2018)

International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 2,775.3 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) Intl$ 2,962.8 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2006 2.4%
2007 2.4%
2008 0.2%
2009 -2.9%
2010 2%
2011 2.1%
2012 0.2%
2013 0.6%
2014 0.6%
2015 1.3%
2016 1.3%
2017 1.4%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 39,621.2 (2017, estimate)
GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 43,677.8 (2017, estimate)

GDP (PPP) – share of world total 1980 4.52%
1990 4.19%
2000 3.46%
2010 2.68%
2017* 2.3%
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 1.7%
industry: 19.4%
services: 78.8%
(2016 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) .3% (2014)

OECD, data retrieved January 2017
Inflation 2013 1.0%
2014 0.6%
2015 0.1%
2016* 0.3%
2017* 1.0%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2013 1.0%
2014 0.6%
2015 0.1%
2016* 0.3%
2017* 1.0%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: AA

Moody’s: Aa2

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s (Updated January 2017)
Unemployment rate 2013 10.3%
2014 10.3%
2015 1.04%
2016* 9.8%
2017* 9.6%

*Estimate
Household saving rates 8.9% (Total, 2015)

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2013 92.4%
2014 95.3%
2015 96.1%
2016* 97.2%
2017* 97.8%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2013 -4%
2014 -4%
2015 -3.5%
2016* -3.3%
2017* -3%

*Estimate

Market value of publicly traded shares 2013 USD 2301.1 billion
2014 USD 2085.9 billion
2015 USD 2088.3 billion
Largest Companies BNP Paribas, AXA Group, Total, Sanofi, EADS, Credit Agricole, Société Générale, Orange, Renault, VINCI, L’Oréal Group, Christian Dior, Schneider Electric, EDF, Saint-Gobain, Carrefour, CNP Assurances, Danone, Natixis, Air Liquide, Peugeot, Michelin Group, Vivendi, GDF SUEZ, Pernod Ricard, CIC Group, Thales, Veolia Environnement, Kering, Publicis Groupe, Bouygues, Capgemini, Sodexo, Unibail-Rodamco, Scor, Safran, Essilor International, Valeo, Eiffage, Hermès International, Finatis, ATOS, Gecina, Financiere de l’Odet, Air France-KLM, Legrand, Alstom, Technip, Dassault Systemes, Aeroports de Paris, Foncière des Régions, Klepierre, Iliad, Wendel, Rexel, Accor, Eurazeo, Dassault Aviation, Arkema, Areva, Eutelsat Communications.

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 30.0% (2015)

Shares in world total merchandising export 3.1% (2015)

Shares in world total commercial services export 5.0% (2015)

Total exports USD 505.4 billion (2016 estimate)

Export commodities Machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages

Total imports USD 525.4 billion (2016 estimate)

Import commodities Machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals

Exports – major partners Germany 15.9%, Spain 7.3%, US 7.2%, Italy 7.1%, UK 7.1%, Belgium 6.8% (2015)

Imports – major partners Germany 19.5%, Belgium 10.7%, Italy 7.7%, Netherlands 7.5%, Spain 6.8%, US 5.5%, China 5.4%, UK 4.3% (2015)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -9.7 billion (2017 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP -0.4% (2017 estimate)

FDI inflows 2013 USD 42,892 million
2014 USD 15,191 million
2015 USD 42,883 million
FDI Outflows 2013 USD 24,997 million
2014 USD 42,869 million
2015 USD 35,069 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2012 USD -3051.0 million
2013 USD 2809.9 million
2014 USD 13809.3 million
2015 USD 23506.1 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 Numericable Group SA, Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone SA, France, USD 23.1 billion / Schneider Electric SA, Invensys PLC, United Kingdom, USD 5.2 billion

Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 Klepierre SA, Corio NV, Netherlands, USD 5.5 billion / Orange SA, Jazztel PLC, Spain, USD 4.3 billion / Cap Gemini SA, iGATE Corp, United States, USD 3.9 billion / Publicis Groupe SA, Sapient Corp, United States, USD 3.7 billion

Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 29 out of 190 countries (2016)

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 27 out of 190 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 18 out of 190 countries

Registering Property: 100 out of 190 countries

Getting credit: 82 out of 190 countries

Protecting investors: 32 out of 190 countries

Trading across border: 1 out of 190 countries

Paying Taxes: 63 out of 190 countries

Dealing with Construction Permits: 20 out of 190 countries

Getting Electricity: 25 out of 190 countries

Resolving Insolvency: 24 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking 21 out of 138 countries

(2016-2017)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 75 / Score: 62.32 (Moderately free) (2017)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+1

Total Area 643,801 sq km

Total Population 1990 56.577 million
2000 58.858 million
2010 62.765 million
2016* 64.569 million
2021* 66.061 million
Urban population as % of total population 1960 62%
1980 73%
2000 76%
2015 80%
Population median age 41.2 years (2016 estimate)

Population growth rate 0.41% (2016 estimate)

Life expectancy 81.8 years (2016 estimate)



CIA World Factbook / Life expectancy
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day N/A
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 33.1 (2012)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2 (2017)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population Fixed 59.91% Mobile 102.61% (2015)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 84.69% (2015)

Language & Religon

Languages French (official) 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Overseas departments: French, Creole patois, Mahorian (a Swahili dialect)
Literacy N/A
Religions Christian (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic) 63-66%, Muslim 7-9%, Buddhist 0.5-0.75%, Jewish 0.5-0.75%, other 0.5-1.0%, none 23-28%

Note: France maintains a tradition of secularism and has not officially collected data on religious affiliation since the 1872 national census, which complicates assessments of France’s religious composition; an 1872 law prohibiting state authorities from collecting data on individuals’ ethnicity or religious beliefs was reaffirmed by a 1978 law emphasizing the prohibition of the collection or exploitation of personal data revealing an individual’s race, ethnicity, or political, philosophical, or religious opinions; a 1905 law codified France’s separation of church and state (2015 est.)

World Rankings

Population 66 M
Mercer Cost of living index Paris: 44th
Lyon:132nd

(2016)
C02 Emissions per capita 5.1 (2013)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: France

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources

CIA Factbook

Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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