France's economy grew faster than initially estimated in 2017, expanding by the highest in six years at 2.0% instead of the 1.9% estimated earlier, according to a second estimate by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
Growth was up from 1.1% in 2016.
"We do not expect a strong acceleration for 2018, but growth should reach 2.2% on the back of stronger investments, both from corporates and households (as the real estate market has been recovering since 2014) and a private consumption rebound," said Julien Manceaux, senior economist at ING Research.
The fourth-quarter 2017 numbers were unchanged from the preliminary estimate. Output rose by 0.6% from October to December, up from 0.5% expansion in the previous quarter.
Household consumption expenditure growth slowed to a downwardly revised 0.2% from 0.6% in the previous quarter.
"Households seem to fear for their financial situation in the coming year despite growing wages in the private sector and a rather positive set of fiscal measures for 2018," ING Research said. "At 1.3% in 2017, private consumption growth is lagging the rest of the economy."
Changes in inventory weighed on quarterly growth by a revised negative 0.4 point, while final domestic demand, excluding changes in inventories, contributed 0.5 point to GDP growth.
Net foreign trade contributed 0.6 point during the fourth quarter of 2017 as exports grew by a revised 2.4%. Imports slowed significantly during the quarter to revised growth of 0.3%, compared to a revised 2.2% growth in the third quarter of 2017.
President Emmanuel Macron's liberalizing economic policies helped raise optimism among consumers and businesses in 2017, Manceaux said.
"For this virtuous cycle to continue, he absolutely must avoid reform fatigue settling in among the French, which would depress confidence," he added.
