France’s GDP surpassed expectations in Q2, growing by 0.5% qoq, significantly better than anticipated 0.1% qoq growth. French economy managed to outperform due to robust rebound in foreign trade activities.
According to the data, the main driver of this better-than-expected performance was the positive contribution from foreign trade, which added 0.7 points to GDP growth. Exports in particular saw a rebound this quarter, rising 2.6% after -0.8% contraction in the previous period. Meanwhile, imports also saw an increase, though less pronounced, rising by 0.4% after falling -2.0% in the prior period.
On the other hand, final domestic demand, excluding inventories, weighed on GDP growth once again, contributing a negative -0.1%, consistent with the previous quarter. This is largely attributed to a decrease in household consumption, which dropped by -0.4%. However, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) noted a slight increase of 0.1%.
Contribution of inventory changes to GDP growth was minimally negative in Q2, at -0.1%.
