France is the world's number six economic power in terms of GDP. The country's assets range from transport, telecommunications, food industries and pharmaceutical products through banking, insurance and tourism to traditional luxury goods (leather goods, ready-to-wear fashion, perfumes, find wines and spirtis, etc.).

France is the world's fifth largest exporter of goods (mainly durables). The country ranks fourth in services and third in agriculture (especially in cereals and the agri-food sector). It is leading producer and exporter of farm produce in Europe.

France does 66% of its trade with its European Union partners (50% within the euro area).

It ranks second worldwide for inward foreign direct investment. Foreign investors appreciate the country's high-quality manpower, advanced level of research, high-tech expertise and reasonable production costs.

  Gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006: € 1,744.2 billion

  GDP growth: 2%

  Inflation in 2006: 1.6%

  Trade deficit in 2006: € 25.8 billion

Agriculture

There are 545,000 agricultural holdings with 1,100,000 agricultural labour force in France covering 50.3% of the area of mainland France.

Main French produce

Cereals: Leading producer in the EU and fifth worldwide (48.5 million metric tons, including 34.8 million tons of common wheat and 13.7 million metric tons of grain maize)

Wine: Second worldwide and in the EU after Italy (53.2 million hectolitres)

Milk: Second in the EU, after Germany, and fifth worldwide (22.6 billion litres)

Sugar beet: EU and world leader (26.1 million metric tons) Oilseeds: EU leader (5.7 million metric tons)

Forests

Wooded areas cover some 15 million hectares, 29% of France's total area, placing France in second place in the EU countries in terms of forest land.

Forest area in France has increased by 46% since 1945 and continues to grow by about 74,000 hectares each year. Most trees are deciduous (three-thirds), while the remaining third consists of conifers.

The National Forestry Office (ONF) is responsible for managing the state forests and the woods and forest belonging to the local authorities.

France's forests are a source of biological and scenic wealth, a haven for strolls and relaxation. They also yield an annual harvest of 53 million cubic metres of timber, making an irreplaceable contribution to rural development by supplying the raw material for various job-rich industries.

In addition, the forests help combat climate change by storing atmospheric carbon. The extra carbon stored annually by French forests is estimated at 10 million metric tons.

Industry

Leading industrial sectors in France are:

Construction and civil engineering has an annual turnover of €137 billion. Three French groups rank the top European construction firms (Vinci, Bouygues and Eiffage).

Food Industry has an annual turnover of €139.7 billion. The leading sectors are meat, dairy production, cereals, animal feed, drinks and spirits. The main groups are Danone, Nestle France, Lactails, Pernod-Ricard, Altadis and Bongrain.

Chemical Industry has an annual turnover of €96.6 billion. Main companies are Air Liquide, Rhodia and Hutchinson.

Fashion and luxury goods has an annual turnover of € 35 billion. This sector includes fashion design, jewellery, luxury leather goods, perfumes, cosmetics and fine glassware. Main groups are LVMH, Chanel and Hermes International.

Pharmaceutical Industry has an annual turnover of €40.6 billion. The main firms are Sanofi-Aventis, Pierre Fabre and Servier.

Motor Vehicle Industry has an annual turnover of €109 billion. France is the world's fourth largest exporter of cars. In 2005, the sector posted a trade surplus of €8.6 billion. PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) and Renault are the two main groups in this sector.

Materials Processing Industry (steel, aluminum, glass, plastics and rubber) has an annual turnover of €65.1 billion. The main firms are Arcelor-Mittal group (steel processing) and Saint-Gobain (the world's number one producer and number two exporter of glss. Plastic Omnium and Sommier Allibert are the two French leaders in plastics processing and Michelin is the world's leading tyre manufacturer.

Telecommunications & Information and communication technologies has an annual turnover of €45 billion. The number of mobile phones has boomed, with 52 million subscribers in March 2007. In the telecommunications sector, Alcatel-Lucent is the fourth largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and world leader in transmission systems and submarine cable networks. Digital televisions is represented by Thomson Multimedia, which produces digital television decoders.

Aerospace Industry had an annual turnover of €32.1 billion in 2006. Main firms are EADS (Airbus, Eurocopter,Astrium, MBDA, etc.), Dassault Aviation, Snecma and Arianespace.

Creation of competitive clusters - in 2004, an increasingly competitive global economy prompted France to launch a new industrial policy to promote and develop key elements of its competitiveness, top of the list of which is the capacity for innovation. A competitive cluster is a geographical concentration of businesses, training centres and research units working in partnership on joint innovative projects, with the size they need for an high international profile. There are two types of competitive cluster: high-tech clusters concentrating on research and development, and industrial clusters more structured by the density of the productive fabric and the sales network. Competitive clusters mark the birth of a new industrial policy tool to step up French industry's competitiveness. On 12th July 2005, the interministrial Regional Planning & Development Committee (CIADT) granted 67 projects the "competitive cluster" label. By 5th July 2007, following new applications and some mergers of already-approved clusters, there were 71 competitive clusters.

Service Sector

Financial services & banking

The Paris Stock Exchange, renamed Euronext Paris, is the official marketplace for stocks and shares in France. In 2000, Euronext merged and replaced the stock exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

In 2002, this new European stock exchange bought out LIFFE (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange) and took on board the Lisbon Stock Exchange.

2007 saw the merger of the pan-European stock exchange with the New York Stock Exchange, making NYSE Euronext the world number one stock market with a market capitalisation of €21.5 trillion.

The leading French banks are BNP Parisbas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and LCL.

Insurance

The French insurance sector is number five worldwide with a turnover of €198.4 billion.

Axa, Europe's second largest insurance firm, CNP and AGF are the three leading Fremch insurance companies. Life and health policies are continuing to grow (+16.1%) as non-life insurance (property and third-party liability) posts growth of 2.2%. The insurance sector accounts for some 200,000 jobs.

Tourism

With 80 million foreign tourists in 2007, France is the most visited country in the world.

France has:

  18,284 hotels
  8,138 campsites
  914 holiday villages
  177 youth hostels
  69,700 gîtes (self-catering holiday facilities)
  34,848 chambres d'hôtes (bed and breakfast)

France's income from tourism (€66 billion) is the third largest in the world, after the United States and Spain.

Foreign Trade

In 2006, French exports totaled €481.2 billion while imports came to €507 billion. The 2006 trade deficit stood at €25.8 billion.

France's main customers are Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and the United States of America.