After an initial estimate of 1.2% at the end of January, INSEE finally revised its assessment of French economic growth in 2019 slightly upwards, this Friday, to 1.3%.
This adjustment, however, remains very modest and in the order of rounding, says one within the National Institute of Statistics, which also confirmed the decline of 0.1% in gross domestic product (GDP) in the last quarter.
A less significant increase in purchasing power than expected
The major trends communicated at the end of January therefore remain fully valid, with household consumption which has accelerated a little, but less than expected, an increase in investment, while production has slowed, penalized by its poor performance in the last quarter. .
The detailed data published by INSEE also show a less significant increase in purchasing power than had been anticipated. Thanks to tax cuts and falling unemployment, it rose 1.9%, compared with a previous forecast of 2.3%.
Growth significantly higher than that of Germany and Italy
And households have confirmed their desire to save part of these gains, since the savings rate amounted to 14.7% over the year, up 0.5 points compared to 2018. Companies have last year, it benefited from the CICE “double payment”, transformed into reduced costs, details INSEE. Their margin rate therefore increased over the year, making it possible to fuel economic growth with investment.
Despite the slowdown compared to the 1.7% growth recorded in 2018, these figures confirm the resilience of the French economy last year in a more difficult European and global context. Its growth is slightly above the euro area average (1.2%), and significantly higher than that of Germany and Italy.
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