The euphoria of late 2017 has vanished: European growth is slowing, and France is no exception to the rule.
Following the forecasts from the Bundesbank and the ECB, the latest predictions from Insee, unveiled this Tuesday at 6 PM, confirm the trend. After peaking at 2.3% last year, France’s GDP growth is expected to return to 1.7% this year, while the government is still banking on a 2% increase.
The main explanation for this slowdown is household consumption, which is only expected to increase by 1% this year—it’s worth noting that their purchasing power is only expected to rise by 0.6%.
The only truly positive sign in Insee’s forecasts is that the unemployment rate should continue to decline, reaching 8.8% at the end of 2018 instead of 9% a year earlier.
