France Economic Structure
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France is a well developed economy with a well established private as well as government sector. The private sector however experiences frequent interference from state authorities. The trend seems to be moving towards a liberal economic structure that was state controlled to an economy dependant on market mechanisms.
France is a well developed economy with a well established private as well as government sector. The private sector however experiences frequent interference from state authorities. The trend seems to be moving towards a liberal economic structure that was state controlled to an economy dependant on market mechanisms.
Table of Contents
Economic Geography
France is located in Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain with terrains that vary from mostly flat plains in metropolitan France to low-lying coastal plains and mountains.
The country has coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, timber and fish. 33.46% of the land is suitable for farming and agriculture.
Population and Labor Force
As of 2010, France’s population was 65,102,719, growing at a rate of 0.549 percent with 18.6 percent of the population aged 0-14 years, 65 percent aged 15-64 years and 16.4 percent aged 65 years and over. Unemployment stands at 9.814 percent with 3.8 percent employed in agriculture, 24.3 percent in industry and 71.8% in the services sector.
The recent recession affected employment rates, increasing unemployment from 7.4 percent to around 10 percent in 2009. Although the country did its best to contain the impact and thus emerge as one of the most resilient EU economies, unemployment still remained a major trouble area.
France Industry Sectors
French industry is well established and includes sectors that France is a world leader in, such as nuclear energy, high fashion, perfume, wine, cheese, nuclear energy and defnece. France is also home to the largest number of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, along with Germany, the US and Japan.
France’s industries include:
- Machinery and Chemicals
- Metallurgy, Automobiles and Aircraft
- Electronics
- Textiles
- Food processing
- Tourism
- Energy Production
Agriculture made up 2.1 percent of GDP, while industries contributed 19 percent, 78.9 percent came from the service sector. Agriculture, however, remains a strong point of France’s economic structure and ensures that the economy is self sufficient even at the worst times.
