The French economy grew at a faster pace than expected in the final quarter of the year, official data showed today.
The GDP of the euro zone's second largest economy rose by between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent in the final quarter, national statistics office INSEE said.
That was better than the consensus forecast of 0.5 per cent and followed zero growth in the third quarter. This brought growth to 2.0 per cent for the whole year, the lower edge of the government's 2.0 to 2.5 per cent forecast.
Other recent data have indicated that the economy was driven by consumer spending last year. Industry has lagged behind, struggling to compete against foreign firms.