France’s economy is expected to expand by 0.9 percent in 2024 and 1.3 percent in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This was revealed in the IMF’s Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission.Â
The IMF stated that “despite a recovery slowdown in 2023, the French economy has remained relatively resilient in the face of financial tightening and weaker euro area external demand.” The financial institution projected that French economic growth will converge towards its potential rate of 1.3 percent over the medium-term.
Real GDP in France grew by 1.1 percent in 2023, supported by net exports, while consumption remained weak. The Fund noted that “inflation continued to decline since its peak in early 2023, despite some volatility from the unwinding of the energy support measures and delayed wage adjustments.” It expects headline inflation to reach 2.3 percent in 2024 and return to target in the first half of 2025.
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However, the IMF warned that “political fragmentation and policy uncertainty could delay fiscal consolidation and reform efforts, which weigh on confidence and public finances.”
In May, during the foreign investment summit ‘Choose France’, France secured investments and job opportunities from global firms including Amazon, Microsoft, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley and AstraZeneca.
In 2023, the summit raised a total of $14 billion in foreign investments.
According to the European Union’s (EU) February 2024 economic forecast, France’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was projected to have grown by 0.9 percent in 2023. This growth was driven primarily by strong economic performance in the second quarter of the year.
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