Buoyant economy boost for France

France's economy has beaten expectations to grow at its fastest rate in six years.

Gross domestic product in the eurozone’s second-largest economy - and the world's sixth largest - rose 1.9% in 2017 from 2016, national statistics body Insee said, beating government predictions of 1.7%, and noticeably higher than the 1.1% growth recorded in 2016. It is the country's best economic performance since 2011.

Before the official figures were released Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire hinted that French economic performance would beat forecasts. He said: "Growth is solid. It may be close to 2% in 2017."

Consumer spending increased by 1.3% year-on-year, even if consumption growth slowed in the fourth quarter, while exports also picked up, growing by 3.5% in 2017, compared to 1.9% in 2016. Imports were up 4.3%.

Unemployment has fallen, too, though it remains around 10%. It currently stands at 9.7%, with experts predicting it will drop to 9.4% by the middle of the year.

The French figures are expected to help push growth across the Eurozone to its highest level since 2007 when GDP figures are published on Tuesday. A sluggish French economy has held back the bloc for a number of years.

Insee forecast the current momentum will continue, with GDP projected to expand by 0.5% percent in the first quarter of 2018 and 0.4% in the second quarter. Year-on-year, it predicts growth to reach 1.7%.