World Grain - June 2013 - 22

COUNTRYFOCUS

Key Facts

Focus on France
European Union’s biggest grain
producer plays important role in
supplying North Africa
by Chris Lyddon

SPAIN

France has the Europe Union’s biggest grains sector
and is among the world’s biggest exporters of cereals,
playing an important role in supplying North Africa
in particular.
The International Grains Council (IGC) puts total French grain production for 2012-13 at 67.8 million tonnes, compared with the previous year’s crop of
63.7 million tonnes. The French wheat crop in 2012-13
is put at 37.7 million tonnes, up from 36.1 million, with
the maize crop put at 15.7 million tonnes, down from
15.9 million. The IGC put France’s barley production in
2012-13 at 11.4 million tonnes, up from 8.9 million.
According to the producer organization AGPB (Association Générale des Producteurs de Blé et autres cereals), in 2012 France produced 24% of the European
Union’s harvest. In total cereals production globally, it
ranks France sixth behind the U.S., China, India, Brazil
and Russia. In wheat, France is
UNITED
KINGDOM
NETHERLANDS
ﬁfth behind China, India, Russia
BELGIUM
and the U.S.
LUX.
GERMANY
The oilseeds industry body Prolea puts total oilseed production
LIECH. AUS.in France at 7.162 million tonnes
SWITZERLAND
FRANCE
in 2012, down from 7.373 million in 2011. The total includes
ITALY
5.483 million tonnes of rapeseed,
MONACO
compared with 5.369 million the
ANDORRA
year before. Sunﬂower seed production was 1.575 million tonnes,
down from 1.881 and soybean production was
104,000 tonnes, down from 123,000.
MAJOR EXPORTER
According to the cereals export promotion
body, France Export Céréales, exports of common wheat
from France fell by 19% in 2011-12 to reach 15.92 million
tonnes. In its annual report, France Export Céréales said
that exports to countries outside the E.U. were 8.4 million

Capital: Paris
Population: 65,951,611 (July 2013 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%,
Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4%.
Location: Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English
Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the U.K.;
bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain.
Government: Republic. Chief of state: President Francois Hollande
(since May 15, 2012); head of government: Prime Minister JeanMarc Ayrault (since May 16, 2012).
Economy: The French economy is diversified across all sectors. The
government has partially or fully privatized many large companies,
including Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales. However,
the government maintains a strong presence in some sectors,
particularly power, public transport, and defense industries. With
at least 79 million foreign tourists per year, France is the most
visited country in the world and maintains the third largest income
in the world from tourism. France’s leaders remain committed to a
capitalism in which they maintain social equity by means of laws, tax
policies, and social spending that reduce income disparity and the
impact of free markets on public health and welfare. France’s real
GDP contracted 2.6% in 2009, but recovered somewhat in 2010 and
2011, before stagnating in 2012. The unemployment rate increased
from 7.4% in 2008 to 10.3% in 2012. Youth unemployment shot up
to 24.2% during the third quarter of 2012 in metropolitan France.
Lower-than-expected growth and high unemployment costs have
strained France’s public finances. The budget deficit rose sharply from
3.4% of GDP in 2008 to 7.5% of GDP in 2009 before improving to
4.5% of GDP in 2012, while France’s public debt rose from 68% of
GDP to 89% over the same period. Under President Sarkozy, Paris
implemented some austerity measures to bring the budget deficit
under the 3% euro-zone ceiling by 2013 and to highlight France’s
commitment to fiscal discipline at a time of intense financial market
scrutiny of euro-zone debt. Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande
won the May 2012 presidential election, after advocating pro-growth
economic policies, the separation of banks’ traditional deposit taking
and lending activities from more speculative businesses, increasing
the top corporate and personal tax rates, and hiring an additional
60,000 teachers during his five-year term. The government’s
attempt to introduce a 75% wealth tax on income over 1 million
euros for two years was struck down by the French Constitutional
Council in December 2012 because it applied to individuals rather
than households. France ratified the E.U. fiscal stability treaty in
October 2012 and Hollande’s government has maintained France’s
commitment to meeting the budget deficit target of 3% of GDP
during 2013 even amid signs that economic growth will be lower
than the government’s forecast of 0.8%. Despite stagnant growth
and fiscal challenges, France’s borrowing costs declined during the
second half of 2012 to euro-era lows.
GDP per capita: $35,500 (2012 est.); inflation: 1.3% (2012 est.);
unemployment: 10.3% (2012 est.).
Currency: Euro (EUR): 0.77 euro equals 1 U.S. dollar (May 22, 2013).
Exports: $567.5 billion (2012 est.): machinery and transportation
equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products,
iron and steel, beverages.
Imports: $658.9 billion (2012 est.): machinery and equipment,
vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals.
Major crops/agricultural products: Wheat, cereals, sugar beets,
potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products, fish.
Agriculture: 1.9% of GDP and 3.8% of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .fr; 17.266 million (2012) hosts and 45.262
million users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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