Paris (AFP)
INSEE revised upwards on Friday its estimate of the rebound in the French economy in the third quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) showing an increase of + 18.7%, against + 18.2% previously estimated.
However, GDP remains "3.9% below its level in the third quarter of 2019", specifies the National Statistics Institute, which explains this revision in particular by a reassessment of household consumption and investment in services.
Thus, household consumption expenditure "sharply" increased over the period, to + 17.9%, after falling from 11.4% in the second quarter, during which GDP plunged by 13.8%.
They are thus approaching their pre-crisis level, since they are down 1.3% over one year, underlines INSEE.
Despite a significant rebound of 23.9%, investment is still down 4.8% from its level a year ago.
With an increase in exports greater than that in imports, foreign trade contributed positively to growth in the third quarter, while the change in stocks contributed negatively (-1.5 points).
Notably, in the third quarter, household income experienced its largest quarterly increase since 1983, underlines INSEE, up 3.7%, after a decline of 2.6% in the second quarter.
These revenues are also 1% higher than those recorded over the same period last year.
With the fall in recourse to the partial unemployment scheme and the rebound in employment, the wages received by households thus started to rise again (+ 13.1%).
But at the same time social benefits fell by 6.2% even if they "remain at a high level compared to their level before the health crisis" (+ 5% over one year), underlines INSEE.
Finally, the corporate margin rate recovered in the third quarter to 30.3%, against 27.8% in the second quarter.
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