The French economy grew by 0.4% in the third quarter of last year from the figure for the previous quarter, after contracting by the same percentage in the second quarter from the first.
Figures released this morning by the national statistics institute Insee showed that the third quarter figure was in line with a previous estimate, while that for the second quarter was slightly worse than Insee's earlier estimate.
Exports rebounded by 0.8% following three quarters of decreases.
Meanwhile, French Budget Minister Alain Lambert says the country's economic growth should slightly surpass that of the euro zone this year. Lambert said he was sticking to the official government forecast of 1.7%.
