The growth of France's industrial production more than doubled in December, according to data released by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) on Friday. The monthly industrial output grew 1.1%, a sharp rise from November's moderate growth of 0.5%. This outpaced the forecasted growth rate of 0.2%.
Similarly, the growth in manufacturing output advanced to 1.2% from November's negligible increase of 0.2%. Among manufacturing output, the production of food products and beverages saw a significant rebound of 1.5% after declining by 0.9% earlier.
However, the manufacturing of coke and refined petroleum products fell by 1.7%, marking a continuing trend from November. Equally, there was a decrease in machinery and equipment output, which slid down by 2.4%, a marked contrast to the 1.4% increase seen in the previous month.
Growth in transport equipment manufacturing improved to 1.6% from a scant gain of 0.3% in November. Additionally, other manufacturing sectors saw a significant growth of 2.1%, following a minimal increase of 0.3%. On the other hand, mining and quarrying saw a meager growth of 0.2%, a steep decline from the previous month's robust growth of 1.9%.
Construction output made a significant rebound, posting a monthly growth of 3.0%, overturning a decrease of 1.1% in November.
For the entire fourth quarter, there was a marginal decrease in industrial output by 0.2%, while manufacturing output exhibited a minuscule gain of 0.1%.
