*  France has a diverse economy across all sectors. The government has partially or fully privatised many large companies have been partly or fully privatised, including Air France, France Telecom, Rénault, and Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF). the government retains a strong presence in some sectors, particularly power eg EDF and Areva, public transport, and defence industries.
*  France has third largest income in the world from tourism.
*  GDP contracted 2.6% in 2009, but recovered in 2010 and 2011, before stagnating in 2012. The unemployment rate increased from 7.4% in 2008 to 10.8% in 2013. Youth unemployment has increased rapidly. Lower-than-expected growth and high unemployment costs have strained France's public finances. Public debt rose from 68% of GDP to nearly 90% over the same period.

Key facts
* Currency: the €uro
* Unemployment: 7.4% (2024)
* Inflation: 1.3% (Nov 2024)
* Europe's second largest economy. Moving from extensive government ownership and intervention to an economy relying more on market mechanisms.
* GDP per capita $55.200 (2023 est)
* Most extensive rail network in Western Europe – high speed trains, TGV, Eurostar, Thalys.

Sectors - agriculture 2.1%, industry 19%, services 78.9%
Tourism - France is the most visited country in the world – 82 million tourists a year.

Power generation
* Largest number of nuclear power plants in EU
* About 80% of electricity production from nuclear power

Some important industries
* Aerospace industry led by European consortium Airbus
* Air France-KLM
* Renault, Peugeot-Citroën car makers
* L’Oréal - cosmetics
* Danone – dairy foods
* Bouyges-Télécom – mobile phones
* Saint Gobain – construction and high performance materials, glass, plastics, polymers
* Total – petro-chemical

Exports - machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals
Germany is the largest import/export partner.

Exports to: Germany 13 %, Spain 8%, Italy 9%, US 8% (2017 data)