French GDP growth slows down to 0.2% in Q3 2022
France's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022 decelerated to 0.2 per cent in volume terms, the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said.
Following the stagnation of the first quarter of 2022 (Q1), the GDP recovered by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter (Q2), Xinhua news agency reported citing the Institute as saying on Friday.
According to INSEE, the country's final domestic demand contributed positively to GDP growth in Q3 by 0.4 points, while net foreign trade contributed negatively by 0.5 points.
"Imports were more sustained than in the second quarter, in particular for goods, while exports continued to slow down due to the decline in services exports," it explained.
Maxime Darmet, an economist specializing in France at Allianz Trade, told the French daily Le Figaro that the third quarter of 2022 could be the "last hurrah before going into recession".
In its estimates published at the beginning of September, INSEE predicted 0.2 per cent growth for the third quarter, followed by zero growth in the last three months of this year.
The forecast for economic growth in the fourth quarter (Q4) appears "more uncertain", due to monetary tightening -- particularly in the US -- and uncertainties over energy supplies to Europe, INSEE had said in September.
