Key figures for the French economy compared with those of the main European countries, analysis of data on the population and the French labour market, activity by sector, publication administration figures, inflation, credit and interest rates, corporate and household accounts.
In May 2024, cumulative 12-month business insolvencies exceeded 60,000 for the first time since August 2016, according to Banque de France data. This threshold has only been exceeded four times in the past. However, the dynamism of business creations and the specific nature of post-Covid normalisation reveal a clear difference between the recent and previous peaks in business insolvencies.
On 5 June 2024, Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Services and Holdings, and Piraeus Financial Holdings (in that order the first to fourth largest Greek banking groups by CET1 capital) were authorised by the European Central Bank to pay out a weighted average of 24% of their 2023 net income attributable to Equity Holders. This payout, totalling EUR 875 million, 93% of which is in the form of dividends, is the first of its kind since 2008 for these banks, which between them account for some 90% of the Greek banking system’s total assets.
After a long period of decline from the late 1940s to the early 2000s, self-employment has been on the rise once again in France for almost 20 years. This resurgence of self-employment, initiated by tax incentives in favour of home-based employment or craft industries (non-market services, domestic services, building crafts), was also fuelled by the outsourcing by companies of certain tasks (for the purpose of controlling costs on non-essential activities, incubating innovation) and the emergence of new needs (in particular in terms of maintenance and renovation in building)
Europe is experiencing a losing trend in market share, due to the growth of other producers (Japan in the 1980s, China subsequently). In Germany, it even increased after the Covid-19 pandemic (-0.7 points in 2023 compared to 2019). The German chemical industry has been hit hard by rising energy prices and increasing competition from China and the US. Its automotive industry (which accounted for 17% of its exports in 2023) is suffering directly from Chinese competition.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Germany on Tuesday, 28 May 2024, the French President and German Chancellor expressed their desire to create a “European savings product” to “bolster Europe’s competitiveness and growth”. This political will follows on from the Letta[1] and Noyer[2] reports and statements made by the French Minister of the Economy. It’s a new approach to getting Capital Markets Union back on the rails.
The ECB’s meeting on 6 June, as well as the statement and press conference that will follow, are very much awaited, not because the outcome is uncertain, but because it should mark the start of the ECB’s rate-cutting cycle. Some points to note.
Q1 2024 saw the household savings rate rise to 17.6% (from 17.2% in Q4 2023), thanks to moderate growth in consumption (+0.1% q/q in volume terms) in Q1 and higher growth in purchasing power (+0.6% q/q). While the savings rate has fluctuated at around 2.5 points above its pre-COVID level (14.6% in 2019) since mid-2021, we expect it to now fall back down to this 2019 level by the end of 2025. Significant support for household consumption.
If there could still be any doubt, Philip Lane's latest statements will, on the face of it, confirm a first cut in the ECB’s policy rates at the next monetary policy meeting on 6 June. The current trend in euro-zone inflation is giving space for the ECB to initiate monetary easing, even though new upward pressure on prices are emerging. Inflation fell marginally in April from 2.43% y/y to 2.37% y/y, while core inflation decreased more sharply from 2.95% y/y to 2.66% y/y. The likely return of a positive contribution from the energy component in May (after twelve months in negative territory), an upward momentum in services prices (the 3m/3m annualised rate rose back above 5%) and annual growth in negotiated wages, which were on the rise once again in Q1 (4
The underperformance of German growth in recent years continued in 2023. However, even though it is no longer a driving force, the German economy is seemingly benefiting from the recovery seen elsewhere in the Eurozone, which could boost its growth in the coming quarters. This was reflected in a relatively good performance (0.2% q/q) in Q1, which, like the Eurozone's performance (0.3% q/q), surprised on the upside. The business climate (IFO) shows an improvement, albeit still partial, with an index of 89.3 in both May and April, making them the best two months since May 2023.
French growth surprised on the upside in Q1, hitting 0.2% q/q as a preliminary estimate, supported by household consumption and business investment in services. Our forecast for Q2 is for more of the same (our nowcast, at 0.3% q/q, even suggests an upside risk), confirming the return to slightly stronger growth, after a second half of 2023 at +0.1% per quarter.
Disinflation is back in Italy. After rising slightly in March (1.2% y/y; +0.4 pp over one month), inflation fell back below the 1% mark in April (0.9% y/y), mainly due to the still significant deflation in the energy component (-12.2% y/y). Although it is falling, inflation in services remains strong (+3.1% y/y; -0.2 pp over one month), keeping core inflation at 2.2%. Nevertheless, disinflationary trends in consumer prices are set to continue, with the evolution of production prices still negative (-9.6% y/y in March).
Unsurprisingly, the Spanish economy remains positive at the start of the second quarter. After outperforming eurozone countries with growth of 0.7% q/q in Q1, activity should stay strong in Q2 (0.5% q/q according to our forecasts).
In this Audiobrief, Guillaume Derrien discusses recent evolution of the European Union's trade balance. The latter moved back to a surplus in 2023. Despite China’s ramping up to higher value-added sectors, the EU trade surplus in traditionally buoyant industries (pharmaceuticals, automotive) remains at historically-high levels.
The publication of the second flash estimate of GDP for the euro area on Wednesday 15 May did not bring any significant change compared to the initial estimate. However, it confirms an encouraging recovery in economic activity. Real GDP in the euro area rebounded by 0.3% q/q, as announced in the previous report, an increase that ends two quarters of slight contraction (-0.1% q/q for Q3 2023 and Q4). Growth was driven by the Baltic economies (Latvia and Lithuania at +0.8% q/q), as well as by the southern European economies, notably Spain and Portugal, which saw their activity expand by 0.7% in Q1, at the same pace as in the previous quarter. Growth strengthened slightly in France (+0.2% q/q) and rebounded in Germany (+0.2% q/q), while Italy was in line with the euro area average.
April could see core inflation (according to the INSEE definition) fall back down to 2%. Disinflation is gradually spreading to more and more items (particularly to manufactured goods and food), resulting in inflation remaining above 2% year-on-year for just half of these items over the first three months of the year.
Since the adoption of the European Green Deal on 11 December 2019, European climate strategy has stepped up. Far from paralysing its climate action, the health crisis was the backdrop for the adoption of NextGenerationEU. This recovery plan has mobilised considerable resources to meet the European Union’s needs in terms of climate and digital transition, healthcare and education. While its implementation is only halfway through, the first positive effects can already be observed. Other mechanisms (including REPowerEU, the carbon border adjustment mechanism and the Critical Raw Materials Act) have been added to this plan to respond to the new challenges that have arisen since the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine (supply security, energy dependence)
In the first quarter, real GDP growth in the United States and the Eurozone was almost on a par, at a quarterly rate of 0.4% for the United States and 0.3% for the Eurozone, according to initial estimates. However, on a year-on-year basis, the situation remains very much to the United States’ advantage, with growth of 3% when Eurozone growth is only 0.4%.
In line with previous months, the recovery in the private sector credit impulse continued in the first quarter of 2024, after the dip seen in the third quarter of 2023. This said, the recovery was slightly slower than at the end of 2023 and the overall trend is still negative. Developments in lending to business are traditionally more volatile over the cycle than those in lending to households. Recent ones have not deviated from this rule: in the autumn of 2023, at a time when the effects of the tightening of monetary policy were at their strongest, the impulse of lending to households did not fall as far, in absolute terms, as that for lending to businesses. Conversely, its recovery since then has been less vigorous
Since China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in December 2001, the European Union's bilateral deficit with the country has widened from EUR 39 billion to EUR 292 billion in 2023 (Eurostat data). This is by far the largest deterioration recorded by the Old Continent with a trading partner, even though, as a whole, the EU's trade balance with the rest of the world returned to surplus in 2023.
In recent years there has been a substitution between consumption of goods and consumption of services. This substitution even accelerated after Covid, with inflation accelerating, and is expected to continue in the coming years. Thus, while consumption of goods has declined since the beginning of 2022, this deterioration is partly due to this substitution effect and not to a reduction in household spending, since total consumption is higher than its pre-inflation level (end 2021).
Romania recorded a softer economic growth in 2O23 but remained one of the best performing economies in the region. The short-term outlook is strong. The gradual fall in inflation since the end of 2022 should pave the way for an accommodative but cautious monetary policy. The persistence of twin deficits remains a major concern. So far, the country has been able to rely on a certain resilience in capital flows to partly offset the current account deficit. Fiscal consolidation is one of the government's short-term priorities, although there is limited room for manoeuvre this year given the busy electoral calendar. Public debt is sustainable in the short and medium term.
After two years of deficit, the EU trade balance returned to positive territory in 2023, supported in particular by falling energy prices. Trade surplus in traditionally buoyant sectors (pharmaceuticals, automotive) remains at historically high levels. China’s ramp-up to higher value-added sectors has, over the years, led to a deterioration in the EU’s trade balance with the country. Among other things, imports of motor vehicles from China tripled between 2019 and 2023.
The publication of INSEE’s business climate survey on Thursday 25 April confirms the prospect of an improvement in demand, which has remained depressed in recent months. Ahead of the publication of important data from 30 April, we anticipate that growth, having remained weak in Q1, should accelerate in Q2, benefiting from the disinflation observed. However, the improvement may not be sufficient to rule out the risk of business insolvencies remaining high.
