IV.

Economy

France, once primarily agricultural, has become increasingly industrialized since World War II. However, agriculture is still a major part of the economy and France is one of the leading agricultural producers in Western Europe. France has a long history of considerable State control in its economy.

During the post-war period, the government instituted a series of wide-ranging plans designed to foster national recovery and increase governmental direction of the economy. Included in the so-called Monnet plans was the principle of nationalization of certain industries, notably rail and air transport systems, major banks, and coal mines. The government, in addition, became a major shareholder in the motor, electronics, and aircraft industries, as well as the primary investor in the development of both oil and natural-gas reserves. Partly as a result of such plans and programmes, the national product of France increased by nearly 50 per cent between 1949 and 1954, by 46 per cent between 1956 and 1964, and at an average annual rate of 3.8 per cent during the 1970s. In 1981 the new Socialist government began a major programme of nationalizing industries; the election of a conservative government in 1986, however, led to a reduction of the state role in the economy. In 1989 and 1993 the government privatized a number of state companies, including Air France and several banks. After a series of public-sector strikes in 1996, the government shelved its austerity measures (including cuts to the welfare budget), which were intended to cut the public debt and allow France to meet the Maastricht criteria for European monetary union. Unemployment in France remained relatively high and reached 12.4 per cent in June 1996. In 2004 France’s GNP totalled an estimated US$1,888 billion (World Bank figure), or about US$36,560 per capita. The national budget included US$967 billion in revenues and US$1,026 billion in expenditures in 2006.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

About 34 per cent of the total area of France is arable, and about 4 per cent of the workforce (2004) is engaged in agriculture, along with forestry and fishing. Under normal conditions French farms, which are mainly small-scale enterprises averaging about 15 hectares (37 acres) each, produce sufficient cereal grains and other basic foodstuffs for national domestic needs. A valuable product of the soil is the wine grape. France and Italy lead the world in the production of wine: yearly French output in the mid-1990s was around 5,300,000 tonnes.

Production of the principal field crops in 2006 included sugar beet (30 million tonnes), wheat (35.4 million), potatoes (6.35 million), and barley (10 million). Other important field crops include rye, oats, turnips, artichokes, flax, hemp, and tobacco. In some parts of the country silk culture is important. Fruit-growing figures prominently in the economy of the French countryside, and large crops of eating and cider apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, berries, cherries, olives, citrus fruit, and nuts are harvested. Animals are also a key source of farm income. In 2006 livestock on the farms of France included about 19.4 million cattle, 8.91 million sheep, 14.8 million pigs, 1.23 million goats, and 422,872 horses, as well as 226 million poultry.

From a total of about 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of forest and woodland, more than three quarters are privately owned. About 70 per cent of the forests consist of oak, beech, and poplar. Timber production was about 44 million cu m (1.55 billion cu ft) in 1994. Resin, turpentine, and cork are also important products.

About 18,400 fishers are employed on the 12,940 French fishing craft that ply coastal waters and the high seas. In 2005 the fish catch totalled about 909,483 tonnes annually. Pollack, cod, hake, whiting, and tuna are the most important commercial fish.

B.

Mining

France has a broad diversity of mineral resources. French iron-ore deposits are among the richest in the world, and in the early 1990s annual production totalled about 3.5 million tonnes. Coal production, concentrated mainly in the north, totalled about 1.74 million tonnes in 2003. Deposits of petroleum are located in the Landes region in the south-west. In 1994 annual production of petroleum totalled about 2.8 million tonnes and of natural gas about 33 billion cu m (1.2 trillion cu ft). Potash salts, salt, and zinc are also mined in France in significant quantities.

C.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing industries of France compare favourably in volume, variety, and quality of output with those of other nations of Western Europe. About 25 per cent of the workforce is employed in manufacturing and industry. Among industries producing durable goods (other than metals), the manufacture of motor vehicles ranks high; the output of passenger cars was about 3.1 million in 1994. The largest manufacturer of cars in France is the nationalized Renault firm. Other durable goods produced in significant quantities in France are aircraft, television and radio sets, tyres, non-electrical machinery, and chemicals. Crude steel production was about 18.2 million tonnes in 1994. The French spinning and textile industry is one of the largest in the world: the production of yarn and cloth from wool, cotton, silk, and synthetic fibres was more than 377,000 tonnes in 1994. Sugar-beet refining is another important industry, as are food processing, distilling, and the manufacture of various specialized products. In the last-named field, several branches of French industry are internationally renowned for the quality of the articles produced, such as perfumes, gloves, lace, millinery, women’s clothing, tapestry, shawls, clocks, china, glassware, pottery, furniture, and numerous other luxury items.

D.

Tourism

France has a thriving tourist industry, which capitalizes on both the country’s many natural beauties, and its rich history and culture. Paris is one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, and other favoured areas include the resort coastline of the French Riviera, rural Provence, the Dordogne, the Loire valley, and Brittany. Income from tourists amounted to some US$31.2 billion in 2006. Visitor arrivals totalled around 79.1 million.

E.

Energy

Only about 10 per cent of France’s electricity output is generated in thermal installations using coal, petroleum products, or natural gas. About 11 per cent is produced by hydroelectric facilities. No nation is more dependent on atomic power: about 78 per cent of France’s electricity is generated by nuclear power plants. A tidal power facility makes use of the tides of the English Channel in the lower Rance, near St-Malo, in Brittany. In the early 1990s France had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 105.3 million kW, and production in 2003 was approximately 536.9 billion kWh.

F.

Currency and Banking

The basic monetary unit was formerly the franc of 100 centimes, but as part of France’s commitment to the European single currency it adopted Euro notes and coins as from January 1, 2002. As at early 2008, 0.68 Euros equalled US$1. The Banque de France, which was founded in 1800, nationalized in 1946, and given independence in 1994, is the bank of issue. Among other leading banks are Crédit Agricole, Banque Nationale de Paris, Crédit Lyonnais (state-owned), Société Générale, and Banques Populaires. About 10 per cent of the French workforce is employed in business and finance.

G.

Commerce and Trade

Paris is at the centre of France’s domestic and foreign trade, but other large cities, such as Marseille and Lyon, also play an important role in the country’s commercial life. French commerce has long been characterized by a preponderance of small shops, and most stores are still of the privately owned, small-scale variety, despite a growing trend towards big department stores and supermarkets. About 71 per cent of the labour force is employed in trade and services.

France is one of the world’s great trading nations, and its foreign commerce includes a wide variety of goods. Throughout the 1980s the country imported more than it exported each year, mainly because of its heavy foreign purchases of crude petroleum, but by the mid-1990s it had managed to reverse the trend. In 2004 French imports cost US$431 billion and were made up chiefly of crude petroleum, food and live animals, machinery, chemicals, iron and steel, transport equipment, and other manufactured goods, such as precision instruments, clothing, and textiles. In the same year exports earned US$411 billion. They included machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, food and live animals, refined petroleum, clothing, textiles, and wine. More than half of France’s foreign trade is with the EU, especially Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Italy; while the United States, the successor republics of the USSR, and Japan are also important trade partners. France plays a leading role in the foreign commerce of some of its former overseas possessions, such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Côte d’Ivoire.

H.

Labour

The French workforce totalled about 27.3 million people in 2006. About 8 per cent of French workers were members of trade unions in 1995, compared with 18 per cent in 1980. The Force Ouvriére has about 1 million members and is the largest labour organization in France. Some 640,000 belong to the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), and the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT), a Roman Catholic-oriented organization, has some 570,000 members. Minimum wages are established by government decree, but pay scales are determined by collective bargaining. The government administers comprehensive insurance programmes for workers.

I.

Transport

France has one of the most highly developed transport systems in Europe. The country has more than 28,500 km (17,710 mi) of main roads, including some 9,000 km (5,593 mi) of limited-access autoroutes; in all, the road network measures more than 951,220 km (591,061 mi). In the mid-1990s, over 30 million motor vehicles were in use (1 for every 1.9 people); there were 495 passenger cars per 1,000 people in 2004. The French railways were partly nationalized in 1938. In 2005 there were 29,286 km (18,197 mi) of railway track, 13,572 km (8,434 mi) of which were electrified. France is particularly noted for the high-speed train à grande vitesse (TGV) which runs on several main lines and with a total track length of 1,200 km (746 mi). France has about 8,500 km (5,282 mi) of navigable inland waterways, including some 4,425 km (2,750 mi) of canals. The French merchant fleet comprises about 215 vessels of more than 100 gross registered tonnes. France has two main airlines: Air France, which was privatized in the early 1990s and operates flights to most parts of the world, and Air Inter, which offers service within the country. One large private international airline, Union de Transports Aériens (UTA), also operates, along with several small private companies offering national and international service. In 1990 Air France, Air Inter, and UTA merged. The chief airports are Charles de Gaulle and Orly, both near Paris. Other major international airports are at Bordeaux (Mérignac), Lille, Lyon (Satolas), Marseille-Provence, Nice-Côte d’Azur, Strasbourg (Entzheim), Toulouse (Blagnac), and Nantes (Atlantique).

J.

Communications

The French postal, telegraph, and telephone systems are state-owned, although the telephone and post systems are under autonomous management. Around 587 telephones per 1,000 people were in use in 2005. Radio and television services are conducted by independent, publicly financed organizations, as well as by private commercial operators. Three state-run television channels were in operation in the mid-1990s, along with satellite and cable services. About 55 million radios and some 37 million television sets were in use in 2000.

France has 103 daily newspapers, with a total circulation of about 2.5 million (2005). Sales of national dailies have fallen dramatically throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The most influential newspapers are published in Paris. These include Le Monde (circulation 307,000), Le Figaro (380,000), France-Soir (200,000), and Le Parisien (431,000). The country’s leading periodicals include Paris-Match (circulation 690,000), L’Express (544,750), Le Canard Enchaîné (520,000), and Le Nouvel Observateur (324,200).