Modern France is one of the most developed countries in Europe and the world. It plays an important role in world politics, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the G7 and many international organizations, and since 2009, NATO again. Close cooperation and cooperation with the EU and Germany in particular have ensured the high growth rates of France's GDP in recent decades.
Short review
The French economy is well diversified across all sectors. The government partially or fully privatized most major companies, including Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales. However, the role of the state remains significant in the energy sector, public transport and the military-industrial complex. Despite terrorist attacks, workers' strikes and bad weather, France remains the most touristy country in the world. In 2016, it was visited by 83 million foreigners, with 530 thousand of them coming to Euro 2016.
Current situation
The policy of French President Francois Hollande is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of national industry and reducing unemployment. It is expected that an additional $ 50 billion will be allocated to complete these tasks. While the results of the program are not yet visible. The budget for 2017 France also includes a reduction in income taxes for households, small and medium-sized businesses. Francois Hollande has already managed to carry out two extremely unpopular economic reforms, which led to widespread protests.
Macron's Law allowed enterprises to work on some Sundays of the month and set the remuneration for labor much more freely. The El Khomri Law was also aimed at this area, which provoked strong protests from the unions.
GDP
France is the third EU economy. The first and second are countries such as Germany and the UK, respectively. The latter is in the process of leaving the European Union, but is still an official member of this association. France's GDP at purchasing power parity is, according to 2016, 2,699 trillion US dollars. According to this indicator, the country is in eleventh place in the world. GDP at the official rate. - 2,448 trillion US dollars. Beyond poverty is 7.7% of the population.
In the structure of France's GDP, the service sector plays a key role. It provides 79.8% of GDP. The key sector is tourism. The high share of services in France's GDP is largely due to this industry. Industry accounts for 18.3% of gross domestic product. The key sectors are engineering, the chemical industry and metallurgy. Agriculture provides 1.9% of GDP. The economically active population, according to 2017, is 30 million people. Of these, 71.8% are employed in the services sector, 24.3% in industry, and 3.8% in agriculture. The average salary is 34800 euros, after taxes - 26400. The state is in 29th place in the ranking of ease of doing business.
GDP per capita of France
In the late 2000s, most countries of the world were covered by a recession. However, France was able to quickly stop the decline in economic indicators. Per capita, as of 2016, there are $ 42,400. This is 330% of the global average. This is France’s record high GDP per capita when viewed from 1960 to 2016. Experts predict that in 2018 this indicator will increase even more.
Economic growth
In the first quarter of 2017, France's GDP increased by 1%. This is 0.2% less than in the past, but more than forecasted indicators. For the period from 1950 to 2017, the average growth of France's GDP over the years amounted to 3.19%. The largest increase was recorded in the second quarter of 1969. Then the GDP growth in France amounted to 12.5%. As for the record low rate, this value fell on the recent recession. In the first quarter of 2009, France's GDP decreased by 3.8%.
External sector
In 2016, France's exports to various countries of the world amounted to 505.4 billion US dollars. This is less than in the previous one. Goods such as machinery and equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cast iron and steel, as well as drinks are exported. Among the main export partners of France in the first place is Germany. It accounts for 16.7% of the total.
Other export partners include countries such as Belgium, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands. The volume of France's imports in 2016 amounted to 525.4 billion US dollars. This indicator also decreased compared to the previous year.
The trade balance is negative and amounts to 20 billion US dollars. Such goods as machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals are imported from abroad. The key import partner of the state in question is again Germany. It accounts for 19.5% of the total value.
Other import partners include countries such as Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and China. One of the key points of the new government of France is the diversification of the market, so experts expect expansion of cooperation of the state under consideration with Asia. The volume of foreign direct investment in December 2016 amounted to 1.1 trillion dollars. This is more than a year earlier. Total external debt is $ 5.6 trillion. Unfortunately, this indicator also increased in 2016.
France remains one of the fastest growing countries in the world. But whether the reforms planned by the government and the president will show results remains a question.