ECONOMIC INFORMATION

Population: 59.7m

Population growth: 0.4%

Population density (people per sq. km): 109

UN Human Development Index ranking: 16/177

Gross national income (current US$): $1523.0bn (2003)

Gross national income per capita: $24,770

PPP Gross national income: $1,640.1bn

PPP Gross national income per capita: $27,460

GDP growth: -0.3% (2003)

GDP breakdown Agriculture: 2.7%, Industry: 24.9%, Services: 72.4%

Inflation (12-month average): 1.7 (2003)

Gross capital formation as % of GDP: 19.3%

Final consumption expenditure as % of GDP (growth): 78.7% (1.9%)

Exports of goods & services as % of GDP: 27.1%

Top 3 export markets: Germany, UK, Spain

Local industries: Machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics, textiles, food processing, tourism

WEF Growth Competitiveness ranking *: 27/104

WEF Business Competitiveness ranking **: 12/103

WEF Quality of the Business Environment ranking: 16/103

Transparency International Corruption Perceptions ranking: 22/145

Languages : French (official)

FDI INFORMATION

Region: France

No. of projects (Jan-Sep 2004): 293

Market-share of projects in the region: 100.0%

Value of projects relative to GDP: 1.7%

Top 3 destination sectors: IT & software, textiles, financial services

Top 3 business functions: Sales marketing & support, manufacturing, business services

Top 3 source countries: US, UK, Japan

Top 3 investors: Toyota, Royal Philips Electronics, Motorola

IPA

Name: Invest in France Agency

Web address: www.investinfrance.org

* World Economic Forum Growth Competitiveness Ranking assesses an economy’s ability to grow consistently

** World Economic Forum Business Competitiveness Ranking assesses the microeconomic factors that contribute to economic growth

*** The difficulty of hiring workers and the difficulty and expense of firing workers is reflected as an index where the higher the value the more rigid the regulations