After a decline of 0.2% in the first quarter, France returned to growth from April to June, recording a more dynamic rebound than expected in its GDP which rose by 0.5% in this second quarter, according to data published Friday by INSEE.
In their latest forecasts, the National Institute of Statistics and the Banque de France forecast growth of 0.25% and 0.2% respectively between April and June.
The good performance of the French economy in the second quarter can be explained both by a clearly positive contribution of foreign trade to growth and a less marked drop in household consumption than in the first quarter.
According to this first estimate of the national accounts, which will have to be confirmed at the end of August by INSEE, imports fell by 0.6% in the second quarter, while exports jumped by 0.8%.