Economy of France
France is the third largest weapons supplier in the world. The French arms industry's main customer, for whom they mainly build warships, guns, nuclear weapons and equipment, is the French Government. Furthermore, record high defense expenditure (currently at €35 billion), which was considerably increased under the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, have contributed to the success of the French arms industries. In addition, external demand plays a big part in the growth of this sector: for example, France exports great quantities of weaponry to the United Arab Emirates, Greece, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Singapore and many others.
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External trade
France is the second-largest trading nation in western Europe (after Germany). Its foreign trade balance for goods had been in surplus from 1992 until 2001, reaching $25.4 billion (25.4 G$) in 1998. However, the French balance of trade was hit by the economic downturn, and went into the red in 2000, reaching US$15bn in deficit in 2003. Total trade for 1998 amounted to $730 billion, or 50% of GDP--imports plus exports of goods and services. Trade with European Union countries accounts for 60% of French trade.
In 1998, U.S.-France trade totalled about $47 billion--goods only. According to French trade data, U.S. exports accounted for 8.7%--about $25 billion--of France's total imports. U.S. industrial chemicals, aircraft and engines, electronic components, telecommunications, computer software, computers and peripherals, analytical and scientific instrumentation, medical instruments and supplies, broadcasting equipment, and programming and franchising are particularly attractive to French importers.
Principal French exports to the United States are aircraft and engines, beverages, electrical equipment, chemicals, cosmetics, luxury products and perfume. France is the ninth-largest trading partner of the U.S.
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Regions economy
The economy between the regions aren't very inegalitarian compared to Spain, North and South of Italy or Germany. However four regions are poorest than other regions. Especially the Regions Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardie, Languedoc-Roussillon and Corse but this unlike isn't strong. The most powerful regions are Ile-de-France (4th aggolmerations for her economy in the world), Rhônes-Alpes (industries, services, high-tecnologies), Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur (services, industries, tourisms and wines), Nord-Pas-de-Calais (industries) and Pays de la Loire . Other regions are rich without be powerful like Alsace who have a rich past in industry (machine tool) herited of Germany. The ruals area are mainly in Auvergne or Limousin, Centre. Wines productions in lot of regions like Aquitaine in the Bordeaux's region, Champagne-Ardennes with his Champagne etc...
List of French regions ranked by GDP total and per capita.
| Rang | Région | PIB (millions d'euros, 2005) |
PIB / hab. (euros, 2005) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Île-de-France | 480 870 | 42 712 |
| 2 | Rhône-Alpes | 165 034 | 28 131 |
| 3 | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | 120 365 | 25 693 |
| 4 | Nord-Pas de Calais | 86 747 | 21 555 |
| 5 | Pays de la Loire | 84 990 | 25 401 |
| 6 | Aquitaine | 76 895 | 25 374 |
| 7 | Bretagne | 73 511 | 24 443 |
| 8 | Midi-Pyrénées | 67 486 | 25 140 |
| 9 | Centre | 61 968 | 25 005 |
| 10 | Languedoc-Roussillon | 53 197 | 21 752 |
| 11 | Lorraine | 53 013 | 22 769 |
| 12 | Alsace | 46 870 | 26 196 |
| 13 | Haute-Normandie | 44 864 | 24 923 |
| 14 | Picardie | 41 276 | 22 022 |
| 15 | Poitou-Charentes | 39 286 | 23 311 |
| 16 | Bourgogne | 38 733 | 23 880 |
| 17 | Champagne-Ardenne | 33 550 | 25 093 |
| 18 | Basse-Normandie | 33 253 | 23 099 |
| 19 | Auvergne | 30 632 | 23 127 |
| 20 | Franche-Comté | 27 016 | 23 782 |
| 21 | Régions d'outre-mer (2002) | 22 891 | 13 375 |
| 22 | Limousin | 16 326 | 22 664 |
| 23 | Corsica | 5 846 | 21 508 |
Source : INSEE.
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Departements economy and cities
Some Departements in France are very rich compared to others. So, Paris,Hauts-de-Seine (GDP per capita : 67000€ in 2000) and Rhône Concentrate a lot of headquartered. The Yvelines is the second most rich departement in France according to the wages of habitants. In Hauts-de-Seine the wages are on average 28 000€/capita, in Yvelines 27900€, and in Paris 25000€ against 15000 in France (data 2004 INSEE).
Finally, in France like in other countries, a lot of cities are extremely rich in much of Regions, so the richest is Marnes-la-Coquette in Hauts-de-Seine with 81750€/households (according to INSEE, data 2004)
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Other statistics
GDP PPP & GDP Growth Rates 2002 - 2006 est.:
| Year | GDP in billions of USD PPP |
% GDP Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1603.740 | 1.3 |
| 2003 | 1641.774 | 0.9 |
| 2004 | 1724.647 | 2.1 |
| 2005 | 1811.561 | 1.5 |
| 2006 | 1889.783 | 2.3 |
Industrial production growth rate: 0.2% (2005)
Electricity:
- production: 536.9 TWh (2001)
- consumption: 433.3 TWh (2001)
- exports: 72.2 TWh (2001)
- imports: 6.2 TWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
- fossil fuel: 8.2%
- hydro: 14%
- other: 0.7% (2001)
- nuclear: 77.1%
Agriculture - products: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish
Exports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, iron and steel products; agricultural products, textiles and clothing and perfume
Imports - commodities: crude oil, machinery and equipment, chemicals; agricultural products
Currency: Euro (EUR) since January 1, 1999 for all financial transactions, euro banknotes and euro coins were introduced January 1, 2002. Previously was the French franc (FRF), the official exchange rate was fixed at 6.55957 French francs per euro.
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Notes and references
- ^ Droits de succession : pour une minorité de ménages aisés, L'Humanité, June 7, 2007 (French)
- ^ a b c d "Les vrais chiffres du pouvoir d'achat", Matin Plus, 23 October 2007 (On-line (French)
- ^ LeMonde.fr : Gel syndical
- ^ France: a nation of strikers?
- ^ NationMaster - Strikes (most recent) by country
- ^ [1]
- ^ Source: L’Electricité en France en 2006 : une analyse statistique
- ^ As of 2004, the most recent statistics compiled by the World Tourism Organization; see World Tourism rankings.
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See also
- France
- Economic history of France
- Economy of Paris
- Poverty in France
- Economy of Europe
- Economy of the European Union
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External links
- Official French exporters directory - Firmafrance.com is the Official French exporters B2B directory, powered by Ubifrance and officially endorsed by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry of France.
- OECD's France country Web site and OECD Economic Survey of France
- French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE)
- Investing in French Stocks - Nov, 2006 Global investor commentary on the current state of French stocks.
- The French Revolution of 2007 - Nicholas Vardy March 9, 2007 - Investor perspective on changes affecting French markets and economy.
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