Economy of France

Economy Of France

France has the world's fifth largest economy by nominal figures and the ninth largest economy by PPP figures. It has the second largest economy in Europe (behind its main economic partner Germany) in nominal figures.

France's economy entered the recession of the late 2000s later and left it earlier than most comparable economies, only enduring four quarters of contraction. Between January and March 2011, France's GDP growth had been stronger than expected at 0.9%, one of the best figures in Europe but shrunk between April and June 2011 decreasing by -0.1%. In 2011, the GDP surprisingly grew at 1.85%, below Germany at 2.9% but more than the UK that grew by 0.6%.

France has long been part of the world's wealthiest and most developed national economies.

• As of 2010, France is the world's 5th and Europe's 2nd largest national economy by nominal GDP.

• In 2010, Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report ranked France the wealthiest European country with 2.6 million dollar-millionaires, and the world's 4th wealthiest nation in aggregate household wealth.

After the turn of the century, wealth per adult grew very strongly in France, tripling in value between 2000 and 2007. It then fell back by 15% and has not yet regained its 2007 value. Much of the earlier rise can be attributed to appreciation of the euro against the dollar, a factor which affected all Eurozone countries. However France also experienced a rapid rise in house prices as a result of which real property now accounts for two thirds of household assets. Personal debts are 12% of household assets, which is a relatively low ratio in developed economies.

• According to the IMF, in 2011, France is the world's 18th country by GDP per capita with $45,460 per inhabitant.
• In 2010, France was listed 14th on the UN Human Development Index with 0.872 (very high human development) and 25th on the Corruption Perceptions Index.