Print this page

France’s economy showed noticeably divergent trends at the end of the second quarter, with the manufacturing and service sectors heading in markedly different growth directions. Whilst the services economy strengthened on the back of increased market activity, manufacturers faced a number of headwinds including a general loss of external demand momentum, ongoing vendor delivery delays and rising price pressures, especially for metals (in part linked to higher tariffs).

Although the surveys suggest that underlying economic growth is continuing at a decent clip, on balance the latest data support the current IHS call for a 0.3% rise in GDP for Q2 as a whole.