Economy of France

With a GDP of 1.7 trillion euros (1.7×1012 €; 2005 data), France is the sixth largest economy in the world in USD exchange-rate terms, the seventh largest by purchasing power parity, while showing the lowest poverty rate amongst the large economies. According to World Bank and IMF figures, it is the third largest in Europe after Germany and the United Kingdom. It has substantial agricultural resources, a large industrial base, and a highly skilled workforce. A dynamic services sector accounts for an increasingly large share of economic activity (74% in 2006) and has been responsible for nearly all job creation in recent years.

GDP growth averaged 2% between 1994 and 1998, with 3% recorded in 2000. Like other continental economies, France's real GDP growth has been relatively weak, the unemployment rate is high, at nearly 9%, and a rising trade deficit has characterised a malaise in the French economy since the global economic downturn in 2000. However, France's income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) has remained low compared to other economies where it has increased considerably (most notably in the United Kingdom and the United States). Moreover, France's poverty rate remains one of the lowest in the world, at 6% (compared to 15% in the UK and 18% in the US).

Government economic policy aims to promote investment and domestic growth in a stable fiscal and monetary environment. Creating jobs and reducing the high unemployment rate is the top priority of the French Government. In the 1990s, unemployment fell from 10% to 8.5%, although this rebounded to double digits because of the dot.com crash, but currently, unemployment is back under 10%. France joined 10 other European Union countries in adopting the euro as its currency in January 1999. Since then, monetary policy has been set by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.