France’s economy registered slight growth in Q4 2023, according to revised data from the country’s statistics office, INSEE published on Thursday.

The expansion was bolstered by faster growth in foreign trade and services consumption.

The second-largest economy in the eurozone grew 0.1% between October and December last year, according to INSEE’s quarterly GDP report, a revision from its preliminary reading of no growth quarter-on-quarter published in January.

The Q4 growth follows on from a flat Q3, Reuters news agency reports.

Moreover, foreign trade contributed 0.9 percentage points to growth in the final quarter of last year, whilst domestic demand and inventories made a negative contribution, deducting a respective 0.1 and 0.7 percentage points.

Elsewhere, purchasing power increased 0.6% in Q4, after falling for three consecutive quarters, whilst the savings ratio stood at 17.9%, a rise from 17.3% the previous quarter.

Economic growth in France for the year was 0.9%, a decline from 2.5% in 2022.

The European Commission forecasts France’s GDP to grow 0.9% this year, whilst growth in the European Union is predicted at 0.8% for 2024.

Furthermore, France reduced its GDP growth forecast for 2024 last month to 1% from a previous 1.4%, due to the slowdown in Germany and China, and the impact of the Ukraine and Gaza wars, the Reuters report adds.

In addition, the country’s economy is set to grow 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in both Q1 and Q2 this year, according to the statistics office earlier in February.