THE French economy dodged a contraction in the final quarter of last year despite inflation forcing households to reduce spending, and grew 2.6% for the year, data showed today.
The figures were better than projections of GDP expanding at 2.5% for the year, and for a contraction of 0.2% in the fourth quarter, when in fact the French economy grew by 0.1%, according to data released by the government’s Insee statistics office.