In the first three months of the current year, France's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.3 percent quarter on quarter and by 0.9 percent year on year, according to the statistics released by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).
During the same period, in France household consumption expenditure improved by 0.4 percent quarter on quarter, the same rate as the previous quarter. Meanwhile, France's import value increased three percent quarter on quarter after the 0.4 percent decrease in the previous quarter, while the export value rose by 1.8 percent quarter on quarter in Q1 after the 0.7 percent increase recorded in the previous quarter. Consequently, foreign trade balance contributed negatively as a decrease by 0.4 percent to GDP growth, after a 0.3 percent increase in the previous quarter.