Industry In 2019, France was the world's 8th largest manufacturer in terms of
value added, according to the
World Bank. The leading industrial sectors in France are telecommunications (including communication satellites), aerospace and defence, ship building, pharmaceuticals, construction and civil engineering, chemicals, textiles, and automobile production. The
chemical industry is a key sector for France, helping to develop other manufacturing activities and contributing to economic growth.
Research and development spending is also high in France at 2.26% of GDP, the fourth-highest in the OECD. Industry contributes to French exports: as of 2018, the Observatory of Economic Complexity estimates that France's largest exports "are led by planes, helicopters, and spacecraft ($43.8 billion), cars ($26 billion), packaged medicaments ($25.7 billion), vehicle parts ($16.5 billion), and
gas turbines ($14.4 billion)." In December 2023, industrial production in France experienced its most significant change since May of the same year, with a notable increase of 1.1%.
Energy France is the world-leading country in nuclear energy, home of global energy giants
Areva,
EDF and
GDF Suez:
nuclear power now accounts for about 78% of the country's electricity production, up from only 8% in 1973, 24% in 1980, and 75% in 1990.
Nuclear waste is stored on site at reprocessing facilities. Due to its
heavy investment in nuclear power, France is the smallest emitter of
carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. Due to its overwhelming reliance on nuclear power,
renewable energies have seen relatively little growth compared to other Western countries. In 2006, electricity generated in France amounted to 548.8
TWh, of which: • 428.7 TWh (78.1%) were produced by
nuclear power generation • 60.9 TWh (11.1%) were produced by hydroelectric power generation • 52.4 TWh (9.5%) were produced by fossil-fuel power generation • 21.6 TWh (3.9%) by coal power • 20.9 TWh (3.8%) by natural-gas power • 9.9 TWh (1.8%) by other fossil fuel generation (fuel oil and gases by-products of industry such as
blast furnace gases) • 6.9 TWh (1.3%) were produced by other types of power generation (essentially
waste-to-energy and
wind turbines) • The electricity produced by wind turbines increased from 0.596 TWh in 2004, to 0.963 TWh in 2005, and 2.15 TWh in 2006, but this still accounted only for 0.4% of the total production of electricity (as of 2006). In November 2004,
EDF (which stands for Electricité de France), one of the world's largest utility company and France's largest electricity provider, was floated with huge success on the French stock market. However, the French state still retains 70% of the capital. Other electricity providers include
Compagnie nationale du Rhône (CNR) and
Endesa (through
SNET).
Agriculture . France is the EU's largest agricultural producer.France is the world's sixth-largest agricultural producer and EU's leading agricultural power, accounting for about one-third of all agricultural land within the EU. In the early 1980s, France was the leading producer of the three principal grains of wheat, barley, and maize. Back in 1983, France produced around 24.8 million tonnes, ahead of the United Kingdom and West Germany, the next two largest wheat producers. Northern France is characterised by large wheat farms. Dairy products, pork, poultry, and apple production are concentrated in the western region. Beef production is located in central France, while the production of fruits, vegetables, and wine ranges from central to southern France. France is a large producer of many agricultural products and is currently expanding its forestry and fishery industries. The implementation of the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the
Uruguay Round of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) have resulted in reforms in the agricultural sector of the economy. As the world's second-largest agricultural exporter, France ranks just after the United States. The destination of 49% of its exports is other
EU members states. France also provides agricultural exports to many poor African countries (including its former colonies) which face serious food shortages. Wheat, beef, pork, poultry, and dairy products are the principal exports. Exports from the United States face stiff competition from domestic production, other EU member states, and third-world countries in France. US agricultural exports to France, totaling some $600 million annually, consist primarily of soybeans and soybean products, feeds and fodders, seafood, and consumer products, especially snack foods and nuts. French exports to the United States are much more high-value products such as
its cheese, processed products and
its wine. The French agricultural sector receives almost €11 billion in EU subsidies. France produced in 2018 39.5 million tons of
sugar beet (2nd largest producer in the world, just behind Russia), which serves to produce sugar and
ethanol; 35.8 million tons of wheat (5th largest producer in the world); 12.6 million tons of maize (11th largest producer in the world); 11.2 million tons of
barley (2nd largest producer in the world, only behind Russia); 7.8 million tons of potato (8th largest producer in the world); 6.2 million tons of grape (5th largest producer in the world); 4.9 million tons of
rapeseed (4th largest producer in the world, behind Canada, China and India); 2.2 million tons of
sugarcane; 1.7 million tons of apple (9th largest producer in the world); 1.3 million tons of
triticale (4th largest producer in the world, only behind Poland, Germany and Belarus); 1.2 million tons of
sunflower seed (9th largest producer in the world); 712 thousand tons of
tomatoes; 660 thousand tons of
linen; 615 thousand tons of dry
pea; 535 thousand tons of carrot; 427 thousand tons of
oats; 400 thousand tons of
soy; in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.
Mining Tourism is one of the most popular tourist destinations in France. France is the world's most popular tourist destination with more than 83.7 million foreign tourists in 2014, ahead of Spain (58.5 million in 2006) and the United States (51.1 million in 2006). This figure excludes people staying less than 24 hours in France, such as northern Europeans crossing France on their way to Spain or Italy during the summer. According to figures from 2003, some popular tourist sites include (in visitors per year):
Eiffel Tower (6.2 million),
Louvre Museum (5.7 million),
Palace of Versailles (2.8 million),
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (2.6 million),
Musée d'Orsay (2.1 million),
Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million),
Centre Pompidou (1.2 million),
Mont-Saint-Michel (1 million),
Château de Chambord (711,000),
Sainte-Chapelle (683,000),
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000),
Puy de Dôme (500,000),
Musée Picasso (441,000),
Carcassonne (362,000). However, the most popular site in France is
Disneyland Paris, with 9.7 million visitors in 2017
Arms industry The French government is the French arms industry's main customer, mainly buying warships, guns, nuclear weapons and equipment. During the 2000–2015 period, France was the fourth largest
weapons exporter in the world. French manufacturers export great quantities of weaponry to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Greece, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Singapore and many others. It was reported that in 2015, French arms sales internationally amounted to 17.4 billion U.S. dollars, more than double the figure of 2014.
Banking and finance Fashion and luxury goods According to 2017 data compiled by
Deloitte,
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LVMH), a French brand, is the largest luxury company in the world by sales, selling more than twice the amount of its nearest competitor. Moreover, France also possesses 3 of the top 10 luxury goods companies by sales (
LVMH,
Kering SA,
L'Oréal), more than any other country in the world. The French tradition for
haute couture has been estimated to start as early as the era of
Louis XIV, the Sun King.
Housing and real estate Education Education in France is organised in a highly centralised manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (
enseignement primaire), secondary education (
enseignement secondaire), and higher education (
enseignement supérieur). In French higher education, the following degrees are recognised by the
Bologna Process (EU recognition):
Licence and
Licence Professionnelle (bachelor's degrees), and the comparably named
Master and
Doctorat degrees. The
Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the
OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge and skills of French 15-year-olds as 26th in the world in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, near the OECD average of 493. France's performance in mathematics and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995
Trends in International Math and Science Study. , the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchersThe
OECD also found that students in France reported greater concern about discipline and behaviour at school and in classrooms, much more than the rest of Europe. This was higher than all
OECD countries. Pupils can take apprenticeships to enter the
labour market with the
Baccalauréat Technologique. It allows pupils pursue short and technical studies (laboratory, design and applied arts, hotel and restaurant, management etc). Higher education in France was reshaped by the student revolts of
May 1968. During the 1960s, French public universities responded to a massive explosion in the number of students (280,000 in 1962–63 to 500,000 in 1967–68) by stuffing approximately one-third of their students into hastily developed campus annexes (roughly equivalent to American
satellite campuses) which lacked decent amenities, resident professors, academic traditions, or the dignity of university status. This is why the French
higher education economy performs poorly compared with other high-performing countries such as
England or
Australia. France also hosts various
catholic universities recognised by the state, the largest one being
Lille Catholic University, as well branch colleges of foreign universities. They include
Baruch College, the
University of London Institute in Paris,
Parsons Paris School of Art and Design and the
American University of Paris. Eighteen million pupils and students are in the education system, over 2.4 million of whom are in
higher education.
Healthcare Retailing Science and technology Telecommunications Transport trains by
Alstom SA at
Paris-Gare de l'Est Transportation in France relies on one of the densest networks in the world with 146 km of road and 6.2 km of rail lines per 100 km2. It is built as a web with Paris at its centre. The highly subsidised
rail transport network makes up a relatively small portion of travel, most of which is done by car. However, the high-speed
TGV trains make up a large proportion of long-distance travel, partially because intercity buses were prevented from operating until 2015. With 3,220 kilometers of
high-speed train lines, France boast the 2nd most expansive network in the world, only after China.
Charles de Gaulle Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world by passenger traffic. Charles de Gaulle airport is third globally in the number of destinations served, and first in the number of countries served with non-stop flights. France also boasts a number of seaports and harbours, including
Bayonne,
Bordeaux,
Boulogne-sur-Mer,
Brest,
Calais,
Cherbourg-Octeville,
Dunkerque,
Fos-sur-Mer,
La Pallice,
Le Havre,
Lorient,
Marseille,
Nantes, Nice, Paris,
Port-la-Nouvelle,
Port-Vendres,
Roscoff,
Rouen,
Saint-Nazaire,
Saint-Malo,
Sète,
Strasbourg and
Toulon. There are approximately 470 airports in France and by a 2005 estimate, there are three heliports. 288 of the airports have paved runways, with the remaining 199 being unpaved. The national carrier of France is
Air France, a full service global airline which flies to 20 domestic destinations and 150 international destinations in 83 countries (including
Overseas France) across all 6 major continents.
Water supply and sanitation == Foreign investment==