France Analysis-Ribhu Vashishtha

Facts

• Population: 65 million

• Capital: Paris

• Area: 674,843 square kilometre

• Major language: French

• Major religions: Roman Catholic, Islam

• Major cities: Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nice, Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux

• Terrain: Varied

• Climate: Temperate

Population Structure

• Total is 65 million

• Workforce(28.3 million) Structure Services-78.9% Industry and construction-19% Agriculture-2.1%

• Annual population growth rate: 0.5%

• Infant mortality rate- 3.7/1000

Economic Trends

GDP• GDP: $2.774 trillion

• Average annual growth rate: 1.0%

• Agriculture: Products--grains (wheat, barley, corn); wines and spirits; dairy products; sugar beets; oilseeds; meat and poultry; fruits and vegetables

• Industry: Types--aircraft, electronics, transportation, textiles, clothing, food processing, chemicals, machinery, steel

• Services: Types--Services to companies and individuals, financial and real estate activities, tourism and transportation

Inflation Rate

• 2.348% in January, 2012

• Main driver of inflation in France is domestic demand increasing w.r.t. supply

Unemployment Rate

• 9.4%

• Rising

• Weak public and private sector hiring

Exchange Rate

• 1 Euro = 1.3233 U.S. dollars

Major Importing Partners

• Germany (17.9%)• Belgium (11.7%)• Italy (8.3%)• Spain (6.9%)• Netherlands (6.8%)• UK (5.1%)• US (4.3%). 

Composition of Imports

Major Exporting Partners

• Germany (14.3%)• Italy (8.7%)• Spain (8.3%)• UK (7.8%)• Belgium (7.6%)• US (5.8%)• Netherlands (4.2%)

Composition of Exports

Future• GDP is on a decline.

• Unemployment rate is increasing y-o-y.

• Deficit in BOP increasing.

• Euro is becoming weaker.

• Political conditions are stable.

• Planning to cut deficit to 2% by 2014.