PARIS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- France's national statistics institute Insee on Tuesday said French economy quickened by 1.1 percent for the whole year of 2016, below the government forecast of 1.5 percent.
In its economic report, Insee attributed the positive performance of the second largest European economy to an increase in domestic expenditure and growing investment. The country's growth engines rose by 1.8 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.
However, foreign trade weighed down on GDP growth with a 0.8-percentage point. Industrial output increased by 1.4 percent compared with 1.3 percent reported in 2015, the report said.
In 2015, France's economic growth stood at 1.2 percent. For this year, the government expected to expand economic activities by 1.5 percent.
