Country Profile-Part Two

FRANCE

 

GDP

2013: 2739.27 Billion U.S. dollars
2014: 2621.63 Billion U.S. dollars

GDP per Capita

2013: 40272.19 U.S. dollars
2014: 40963.65 U.S dollars

Life Expectancy
81.67 years (as of 2011)

Poverty Rate
13.5%

Literacy Rate 
99% with a rank of 37 out of 194

Unemployment Rate
10.3% (2012 estimate)

Inflation
recorded at 0.90% in February 2014
Inflation rate averaged 4.72% from 1958-2014

Natural Resources (climate, growing season, rainfall, agricultural land, major rivers and waterways, significant mineral deposits) 

•  France has a third of all the agricultural land in the European Union
• Moderate and varied climate
• The world's second largest agricultural producer (behind the U.S.) 
• accounts for 2.5% of French gross domestic product (estimate from 2006) 
• roughly 1 million farms
• main agricultural products: wheat, corn, meat, wine, sugar beets, dairy products
• forest resources cover about 17 million hectares (one third of the country's land area)
• Access to ocean and fishing industry
• Not rich in mineral resources, although there are coal deposits in the north and iron ore deposits in the east
• significant producer of uranium
• the average rainfall per year is 786 millimetres. It usually rains in the spring, but not in the summer. 
• Continental climate in the east
• main rivers: Loire which is 1,010 kilometres in length, the Seine which is 770 km, the Garonne which is 650 km, the Rhône which is 522 km and the Dordogne

Labor (size of labor force, educational system)

• In 2005 about 28 million people were active in the labor force
• from 2000-2005 employment growth averaged 3.1%
• French workers average 37 hours of work per week (with 5 weeks paid vacation)
• Except for Scandinavia, France has the world’s highest female labor market participation rate, with women representing about 47% of the country's workforce
• education system is free between the ages 2-18. Compulsory for everyone between the ages 6-16
• Most continue education beyond 16 years of age
• Top students go to high school (lycée) to study for the baccalaureat qualification, while others attend vocational school
• Outside the public education system, private education, primarily Roman Catholic, is also available
• Every high-school graduate who passes the baccalaureat exam is guaranteed a free-or nearly
  free-university education.

Capital (industry and technology, infrastructure)

• "France has a large industrial base whose contribution to the country's economic activity has not diminished in favor of services as dramatically as in other developed countries" (library of Congress)
• industry provides 22% of the jobs (U.S. is 11%)
• key industrial sectors are chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, metallurgy, telecommunications, electronics, and aircraft. 
• lots of success developing dynamic telecommunications, aerospace, and weapons sectors. 
• France has a high-quality transport infrastructure in which road, rail, air, and water transport all play a significant role

sources: 

statistica.com

indexmundi.com/france/#Economy

inequalitywatch.eu

country-facts.findthedata.org

tradingeconomics.com/france/inflation-cpi

ask.com