STRUCTURE AND FEATURES OF THE FRENCH ECONOMY

Agriculture in France accounts for 2.4% of GDP, industry for 26.5%, and services for 71.1% of GDP. The share of industry in GDP is 11 times greater than the share of agriculture. Industrial products account for about 80% of the value of exports. At the same time, the post-industrial orientation of the economy is obvious. The service sector accounts for more than 2/3 of the country’s GDP. Industry employs 26% of the economically active population, services employ 62% and agriculture employs 5% of the economically active population.

Over the past decade, France’s economic policy has been characterized by support and stimulation of small businesses. The role of medium and small entrepreneurs in the country is now more significant than in other highly developed countries. In France, 95% of enterprises have a number of employees of up to 20 people. Most of them do not reach the optimal value necessary for modern production. Therefore, the state pursues a policy of merging firms and consolidating industry. The share of small-scale industry is high. entrepreneurship in such sectors of the economy as agriculture, trade, light and food industries. It should be noted that only 100 large firms provide 2/3 of the country’s industrial production.

In the early 1990s, the French economy was characterized by crisis phenomena (Table 5): employment and wages were declining; the investment demand of enterprises and personal consumption of the population decreased; there was a drop in the load of enterprises to 80%, a decrease in production volumes and at the same time an increase in unsold inventories, as well as an unprecedented drop in prices. National companies experienced an acute shortage of their own funds and suffered from large debts and high interest rates on loans. 90% suffered from the increase in bank rates

  Table 9 Resource requirements by component

Main indicators of economic development of France

Source:  Bolotin B. Mirovaya ekonomika za 100 let // Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. №9. 2001. pp. 91–114.

Since 1994, the economic situation has begun to improve. France ceased to be a country with a predominance of light industry. Currently, the machine-building, electrical, automotive, aircraft missile and chemical industries together account for more than 60% of France’s industrial output and account for 10% of the total production of developed countries. Light industry accounts for approximately 30% of industrial production.

Since the second half of the 90s of the twentieth century, the growth rate in the country has remained at the level of 2.5–3%, capital investments –  about 4%,  personal

consumption – up to 2.5%, inflation is 1.8-2% per year. Under the influence of internal and external factors, France during this period was in the first echelon of European states with relatively high growth rates of the national product, low inflation and external debt. The acceleration of economic growth from 2.3% in 1997 to 3.2% in 1998 was accompanied by a slowdown in price growth from 1.2% to 0.3%. In France, there was a decrease in the budget deficit below 3% of GDP, a reduction in the balance of payments deficit, an increase in real income per capita by 3.5%, an increase in consumption by 3.8%.

The national economy reacted poorly to the financial crises of Asia and Russia due to the small share of foreign trade in these regions.

The second component of domestic demand – investment – also developed quite dynamically. If in 1997 the total investment in fixed assets as a percentage of the previous year was minimal – 0.1%, then already in

In 1998 it was 3.9%, and in 1999 it fell slightly to 2.9%. Investment demand has led to a significant increase in the production of industrial equipment. The favourable economic situation has had a positive impact on employment. Unemployment among young people decreased by 8.5%, among people aged 25-49 years – by 5.3%. In general , unemployment among  the active part of the population decreased from 12.5% in 1997 to 11.2% in 2000.

Thus, in France, a combination of three components is considered as a “growth triangle”: the use of the state budget deficit as a stimulus for economic growth; reduction of domestic and external debt; reduction of the taxation rate.

As in other developed countries, TNCs and financial banks, which are closely linked to each other and to foreign capital, play an important role in the French economy. Examples include Compagnie Française de Petrol and Elf-Aciten (oil), Peugeot-Citroën and Renault (automotive), Pesciné-Hugin-Cuhlmann (aluminium), Michelin and Rhône-Poulenc (chemical and rubber). The 50 largest commercial banks in the world include four French banks (“Paris National Bank”, “Agricultural Credit”, “Lyon Credit”, “General Society”).

In the first post-war decades in the economy of France, the leading positions were occupied by the financial groups of the Rothschilds, Lazars, and Schneiders. But since the 60s of the last century, the expansion of two new groups began – “Paribas” and “Suez”. At the head of the groups were not banks, but holdings. The Paribas Group includes the Banque de Paris, the Compagnie Française de Petrol, the electrotechnical Thomson-Brandt, etc. The group’s capitals are invested in petrochemicals, electrical engineering, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and publishing.

Since 1980, the Association of French Banks (AFB) has been operating, which has established a mechanism to protect depositors from financial risks, based on the principle of solidarity between AFB member banks. French member banks do not create guarantee funds. In the event of the bankruptcy of a bank, the association determines the amount necessary to reimburse depositors, then each bank contributes its share. Such a mechanism provides depositors with the same reliable guarantee as deposit insurance, since all AFB member banks act as guarantors. The solidarity mechanism applies only to bank depositors in cash, and compensation for losses takes no more than two months. The experience of France, on the recommendation of the EU, is gradually being extended to all EU member states.

The French government actively intervenes in the country’s economy, using financial levers, influences the structure of the economy, foreign economic relations. In terms of the share of the public sector in the economy, France is ahead of Germany and the UK. The State owns approximately 25 per cent of industry; the public sector employs about 25 per cent of workers and employees. The state owns the bulk of the energy sector and ferrous metallurgy plants, part of machine-building and military enterprises, and the largest insurance companies. It controls railways and seaports, partly radio and television, and attempts to control the development and deployment of productive forces.

France relies on the knowledge intensity of its industrial production, in particular, it ranks first in the world in the production of railway rolling stock (high-speed trains), aircraft, missiles, nuclear energy, has advanced technologies  for the processing of rare earth metals (germanium, radium, chromium, titanium). The country’s leading position in robotics, communications, production of new materials, biotechnology and microelectronics is indisputable. France is also actively borrowing advanced foreign experience, the rate of direct investment of French TNCs in the United States is growing, which opens up its access to advanced technologies and markets. In terms of contribution to space exploration, the country ranks third in the world after the United States and Russia.

France is a post-industrial country with a large share  of agriculture and non-productive sectors in the structure of the economy.

In terms of agricultural output, France ranks third among the developed countries of the world and first in Europe. A third of all agricultural products of the country go to the foreign market. France is one of the three leading producers-exporters of wine, barley, milk, butter.

Industry. Throughout the country, industry is unevenly distributed. There is a difference between the territory located northeast of the Le Havre-Marseille line and the southwestern regions, where later industrialization is less pronounced. Nevertheless, these differences, especially obvious in the 50s, thanks to the policy of decentralization of industry in the 60-70s, are quickly erased. In the western regions, automobile factories appeared in Cannes, Rennes, Le Mans; electrical and electronic enterprises – in the north of Brittany. These events had a significant positive impact on the periphery of the Paris Basin, primarily on the Centre and Burgundy regions. Overall, more than 1 million jobs have been created in the province, 1/3 of which are located southwest of the Gav-Marseille line.

Old industrial areas, relying on first- and second-generation enterprises, such as Lorraine, are in crisis. Manufacturing employment is rapidly declining, and many industrial enterprises are closing. Other industrial areas, such as the Paris arrondissement or the Rhône-Alpes, were less affected  because production was more diversified in those areas; there are enterprises using the latest technologies, as well as a network of competitive small and medium-sized enterprises. This refers to Alsace, which takes advantage of the proximity of the German market. The dynamism of industrial development is characteristic of the southern regions of the country. New industrial centers were formed in Sophia Antipolis (the first technopolis of France) and in Toulouse.

The most industrially developed are the Paris Basin, the north of France and the eastern edge of the Massif Central or the valley of the Seine River.

In the Paris Basin, the largest is the Paris agglomeration. Mechanical engineering is represented by automobile plants, production of precision machines, devices, computers. Enterprises of the Paris Basin provide 80% of cars produced in France.

Northern France is characterized by a high level of development of the chemical, metallurgical and textile industries (production of linen and woolen fabrics), mechanical engineering and metalworking.

The industry of the eastern part of France can be divided into:

1) ancient independent centers, in which the leather industry is developed; production of parchment; paper; flour milling production; production of medical devices and equipment; machine-building industry;

2) textile centers (Lyon, Pelussen);

3) centers of the extractive industry (Saint-Etienne, Le Cresot);

4) coal and metallurgical industry.

The main place in industry is occupied by energy, mechanical engineering and chemical industry.

Electricity. One of the most important problems that France is seeking to solve is the elimination of its energy dependence, which has increased recently. In connection with the insignificant reserves of traditional energy carriers after the Second World War, special attention was paid to the development of nuclear energy, which is focused on its own scientific, technical and raw material base and partially on the import of uranium ore from Gabon, Nigeria and other African countries. Every year, 2-3 thousand tons of uranium ore are mined in the Central Massif. In terms of the scale of nuclear energy, France is second only to the United States. There are 55 nuclear power units in the country, which annually produce 78.5% of all electricity; 8% are provided by thermal power plants, 13.4% by hydroelectric power plants, other types account for 0.1%. The focus on nuclear power in France was associated with the oil crises of 1973 and 1978 After 1985, when oil prices fell, it was necessary to make a choice. The environmental problems raised by environmentalists have highlighted the negative effects of nuclear power, especially after the Chernobyl situation. Nevertheless, nuclear energy in France was not abandoned. France joined the European Nuclear Development Council, whose headquarters have been located on its territory since 1952, and also became part of EURATOM and the IAEA. It should be noted that more than 2/3 of the total capacity of all nuclear power plants in the world is concentrated only in a few countries – the USA, France, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and Russia; In total, nuclear power plants operate in 30 countries in the world, the annual electricity generation at them exceeded 2 trillion kW / h.

There are many unique nuclear energy centers in France. For example, in the Rhone Valley – in Tricasten – there is the largest uranium enrichment plant in Western Europe, and cape L’Ag is the largest plant in the region for the regeneration of nuclear power plant rods.

The country’s provision with its own energy resources is less than 50%. Less than 10 million tons of coal and 3–4 million tons of oil are produced per year,

3 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The expansion of the penetration of French companies into the foreign energy market, the diversity of ties with their suppliers are considered as measures to strengthen energy independence.

In the oil industry, special emphasis is placed on the development of advanced technologies that allow exploration and production of oil at a great depth of the continental shelf. The export of such technologies, according to French experts, can change the geography of oil production, expand search areas and increase the number of supplier countries.

Among the oil companies in the world, the French company Elf Akitan deserves attention, ranking seventh. Its activities develop in four main areas: exploration and production of raw materials; oil refining and marketing; chemistry; pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. It conducts prospecting operations in 29 countries of the world and carries out production in 15 countries. The company develops oil fields in the North Sea, the Middle East, Central Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. “Elf-Akitan” controls the activities of more than 50 subsidiaries and branches. The company’s refining and sales are concentrated mainly in Europe. In particular, there are four  oil refineries and more than 3,000 filling stations in France. In recent years, Elf-Akitan has acquired a large number of shares in oil refineries and sales companies in Germany, Spain, the UK and In Africa. One of the most significant projects of the company is the largest in Western Europe oil refining complex in Leina (Germany), the construction of which was completed in 1977 Outside of France, Elf-Akitain owns about 2 thousand filling stations in Europe, 708 in West Africa, 70 on the island of Reunion and the Antilles.

In terms of oil consumption, France ranks 8th in the world, and in terms of the capacity of oil refineries – 9th.  On imported raw materials, Le Havre and Rouen have grown giant refineries. In the Northern region, Dunkirk stands out – an important port and industrial hub with a large refinery, also working on imported raw materials.

In the field of international gas business, the state corporation Gas de France stands out. The first international steps of the company were aimed at providing gas supply to France, now they are integrated into its exploration and production activities. The company produces gas in Germany, plans production in the UK and Norway with supplies to France. An agreement was signed with Elf-Akiten on the joint production of natural gas in the North Sea and its sale in France.

Due to the geographical position of France in the coming years, Gas de France will become the most important company in Europe, transiting Algerian, Norwegian, Russian, Nigerian, possibly later, Turkmen gas. Since 1998, the company has become an important transshipment point for Norwegian gas exported to Spain.  Transit highways pass through France and the Pyrenees.  A 25-year agreement has been signed regulating the transit of 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Norway to Italy.

Electricity generation in general and per capita is one of the most important macroeconomic indicators along with GDP. France ranks 7th in the world in terms of electricity production, but lags behind many countries in terms of its production per capita.

In France, ferrous metallurgy is well developed. The largest producers of ferrous metals in Western Europe are still Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. The top ten producing countries now account for 2/3 of the world’s steel production, and in 1950 it was  90%. Every year, 13-14 million tons of pig iron and 18-19 million tons of steel are smelted in France. In terms of steel smelting in 1990, France ranked 9th in the world, now it is 12th. In the EU, it is  ahead of Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. In France, there are three areas of ferrous metallurgy. About 50% of the cast iron and 25% of the steel are produced in Lorraine. On the one hand, these are the old factories of Lorraine – a relic of the once large metallurgical region, which arose on large reserves of poor iron ore (iron content up to 40%). Two new giant mills have been built in Dunkirk and Marseille, where 2/3 of all steel is smelted. The large metallurgical plants of Lorraine (in Gandrange, Seremange, Thionville)  work on local iron ore and partly on their coke.

At present, the importance of two new large metallurgical plants, built near Dunkirk with the removal of production areas over the sea in Foz (a satellite of Marseille), working on imported raw materials and fuel, is of great importance. One of the largest steel producers in the world is the French TNC Yuzinor Sasilor. In general, the industry is in a difficult situation due to the fall in demand for local steel and low-quality iron ore, competition from other types of products, in particular, aluminum and plastics, and the emergence of competitors such as Brazil and South Korea.

Until the Second World War, 3/5 of all bauxite was mined in Europe.  In 1913 – 60%, 1938 – 32%; france accounted for the largest share. However, already in 1980, France was pushed  back in terms of the size of bauxite mining to 10th place, and in 1991 their production in the country was completely stopped. In this regard, the  aluminum industry reoriented to imported raw materials (by 3/4 from Guinea). The aluminium industry, originally located in the Alps and pyrenees near hydroelectric power stations, moved to port centres equipped to receive imported raw materials. The largest aluminum smelters are built in Dunkirk and near the nuclear power plant. Aluminum production is carried out mainly by the Peshine group, which owns several plants in other countries – Australia, the USA, Greece.

Key positions in the global production of refined nickel belong to large TNCs, among which the French Le Nickel stands out.

France is the largest importer of refined copper.

A separate item of import in the market of non-ferrous and rare earth metals is the import of scrap metal, which is necessary for the smooth operation of a number of French enterprises. Processing of metal waste allows to reduce the cost of imported products and has a low energy intensity. For example, the production of copper and zinc from waste is 4-5 times more economical in terms of energy costs than when smelting them from ore, and the secondary production of aluminum is 20 times lower than the primary costs of its production.

Mechanical engineering and metalworking. France is one of the first countries in the world to produce and export machinery and industrial equipment. Over the past 20-30 years of the twentieth century, the structure of the country’s manufacturing industry has changed – material-intensive and energy-intensive industries have decreased, the role of mechanical engineering has increased. However, in mechanical engineering, not all sub-sectors have developed in the same way. Production in electrical engineering and electronics grew especially rapidly, but the production of metal-cutting machines and KPO,  the tonnage of launching vessels sharply decreased.

Modern mechanical engineering of France reflects the level of its scientific and technological progress and defense capability, determines the development of other sectors of the economy. The share of mechanical engineering accounts for more than 40% of the cost of industrial production,  it employs about 40% of all workers in industry. The main branches of international specialization of France are the production of cars, aviation and space equipment, weapons, equipment for nuclear power plants.

The automotive industry is the largest sub-sector of transport engineering, one of the most monopolized in the global industry. The leading French automobile companies are Renault (state-owned) and Peugeot-Citroën. The latter accounts for 3.9% of global car production. More than 4 million cars are produced annually in France (4th place in the world), more than 80% of the products are passenger cars, over 50% of them are exported.  Head factories are located in the suburbs of Paris and Lyon and in Sochaux-Montbéliard (Franche-Comté). However, 1/3 of the cars bought in the country are imported.

Shipbuilding has significantly reduced  the volume of production due to competition from Asian countries. If in the 70s. this industry was one of the leading, today it is assigned a secondary role. Some shipbuilding firms located in Saint-Nazaire and Le Havre specialize in the construction of large marine passenger ships and tankers. At the same time, France is one of the main manufacturers of pleasure yachts and boats. They are being built in the Vendée.

The main feature of mechanical engineering as a whole is its high concentration in Greater Paris (almost 25% of all employed). The role of the Lyon and Northern regions is also great.

The aerospace and aerospace industry (ARCP) is a knowledge-intensive industry that requires large scientific and technical developments and huge investments; unites the previously created aviation industry with the latest rocket and space industry. In the ARCP of Western Europe, France and great Britain are in the lead. As a result of the merger of the state enterprise “Aerospatial” and the private group “Matra”, the fifth most important association in the world in the field of civil and military aircraft construction was formed. In France, military aircraft are produced: tactical fighter “Jaguar”, “Mirage”, “Rafael”, “Alpha Jet”, as well as passenger aircraft, together with the UK “Concorde” , helicopters “Dauphin”, “Puma”, “Gazelle” and missiles “Ades”. France is a major exporter of aerospace products.

In order to counter the intensified international competition, reduce the cost of research and production costs, French firms have chosen to combine their scientific, technical and production potential on the basis of corporation and specialization with similar firms in other European countries. Thus, the European consortium “Airbus Industry”, which includes the aviation companies “Aerospatiale” (France); Daimler-Benz-Aerospace (Germany); British Aerospace (UK); “CASA” (Spain), in 1997 produced 182 aircraft of the brand “Airbus”. Currently, this consortium controls 1/3 of the global civil aviation market and plans to increase this share. French Ariane rockets are used by many EU countries to launch satellites. The main spaceport of France is Kourou (French Guiana). France is involved in the launching of communications and tracking satellites, such as SPOT and Helios. The largest aircraft factories are located in Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Bourget, Marignane, etc.

The electrical and electronic industries are characterized by a wide variety of products. In the structure of the electrical industry in France, there are two groups of industries that produce:

1) expensive industrial products, especially electrical equipment (transformers, rectifiers, electric motors, generators), as well as  equipment for electric welding, electric furnaces for smelting metals. Alston specializes in equipment for power plants. It owns the first place in the world in the production of combined cycle turbogenerators. The company “Thomson” produces a whole range of products – from electronic equipment for defense purposes to household electrical equipment and equipment of wide demand. Schneider occupies a leading place in the field of electromechanics, and Legrand is the world leader in the production of electrical equipment;

2) cheap products for widespread use; but the country buys more household electrical appliances than it sells.

A significant part of the enterprises for the production of computers belongs to American capital. About 40% of electronics production falls on the factories of the capital.

The main feature of the current stage of the world economy is the development of communications and telecommunications. The production of electronic means of communication is 75% concentrated in the 10 most developed countries of the world. Among the largest firms in the world is the French “Alcatel”. In the telecommunications sector, Alcatel is the fourth most important in the production of equipment for telecommunications networks and is the world leader in the creation of submarine cable networks. The company “Microelectronics”, although it ranks third in Europe in the manufacture of electronic microcircuits, but its products account for less than 3% of world production.

Digital television is represented by Thomson Multimedia, which produces decoders for digital television. France ranks third after Japan and the United States in the field of scientific research among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

France has a developed diversified chemical industry, is among the first five countries in the world for the production and export of chemicals, the top ten for the production of sulfuric acid. The country specializes in the production of mineral fertilizers (on its own raw material base), synthetic rubber (fourth place in the world), synthetic resins and plastics (seventh place in the world),

fine chemistry – production of expensive high-tech products – pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, perfumes, photochemical products, etc.

There are large plants of the chemical industry in almost all regions of the country. In Lorraine, coal chemistry and salt production are developing on local raw materials, in Alsace – the production of potash fertilizers, in

Landach – forest chemistry. In the industrial hubs of Marseille and the Lower Seine, the largest petrochemical plants operate on imported raw materials. In the Alps and Pyrenees, electrochemistry is used on cheap electricity; in the Lyon region, the textile industry has stimulated the development of related chemical industries; in Paris – fine chemistry, as well as tire production. Large factories of rubber products are located in Clermont-Ferrand and Montluçon. They were built in rural areas in anticipation of the cheapness of local labor resources. The development of pipeline transport contributed to the construction of new chemical plants in Lyon and Strasbourg.

  The bioindustry has also developed. France has a prominent place in the development and creation of enzymes, aromatic substances, in genetic engineering used in agriculture to produce new varieties of seeds. Work in this area is extremely diverse and is used by many industries. In pharmaceuticals, these are new achievements with the advent of antibiotics; in the agro-food complex – the use of enzymes in the dairy industry, etc.

France is among the top ten countries in the world for the production of pulp, paper and cardboard.

The most important branch of light industry – textiles and garments – have a long tradition. Although the textile industry has lost its former importance in the country’s economy, but in terms of scale and quality of products, it still occupies a prominent place in the world. In the production of fabrics, France, together with Italy and Germany, leads in Western Europe, with France having a higher share in the consumption of cotton and wool and a lower share in the consumption of chemical fibers. Currently, textile production is in decline due to the problems of selling goods in foreign and domestic markets, so the number of people employed in the industry has decreased three times compared to the mid-50s. of the last century. The location of textile enterprises has not changed. The textile industry is concentrated in three districts. Located in the north , Roubaix-Tourcoing, Armontière, Cambrai, Lille specialize in the production of woolen, linen, jute fabrics. The slopes of the Vosges and Alsace are the main areas of the cotton industry. The largest centers of Mulhouse, Epinal, Lyon, formerly famous for the production of fabrics from natural silk, are now the centers of synthetic fabrics. Paris, Roubaix, Troyes are the most important manufacturers of knitwear.

Products of the French garment industry are also in great demand outside the country. Paris is the main “trendsetter” and a center for the production of clothing and haberdashery.

The main industrial groups of the fashion industry and the production of luxury goods are Yves Saint Laurent,  Chanel, Dior, Cartier, etc.

The food industry is the main consumer of agricultural products. One of the leading sectors of the French economy, it provides a turnover of over $ 125 billion and is the third most important employer in French industry. In addition, the food industry is largely export-oriented. Among the products enjoying the highest export demand, the first place is occupied by wines and spirits, cereals, dairy products.

Thus, the industry of France is extremely unevenly distributed. More than 20% of production is created in Paris and its suburbs (Ile-de-France), the same amount in the Lyon and Northern regions (this is only 17% of the country’s territory). The level of industrialization in the north and east is much higher than in Central, Western and Southern France.

Agriculture. France ranks first in Western Europe in the production of grain, milk, sugar beet; the second – for the production of meat,  potatoes (after Germany) and grapes (after Italy); is the largest exporter of agricultural products. Cultivated land accounts for 54% of the total area.

After the Second World War, agriculture developed in the face of increased competition in food markets, especially in the EU market, and intensive modernization, which led to a reduction in the number of people employed in this area. The figures confirming this fact are as follows : 1946 – 36%, 1962 – 21%, 1972 – 12%, 1994 – about 5%, 2000 – about 2%.

The structure of agriculture is characterized by a variety of industries with an approximate equality in the importance of crop production and animal husbandry. Crop production accounts for just over half of the agricultural sector’s income. The main thing in crop production is grain production (harvests of 55-60 million tons per year). The main crop is wheat, under the crops of which about a quarter of the arable land and half of the grain area are occupied. The most important wheat regions of the country are the North French and Aquitaine lowlands. France produces 36 million tons of wheat per year, the first place in the EU. The average yield is more than 60 c / ha. Corn (17 million tons) and barley (10 million tons per year) are important. For a long time, corn was grown only in the south-west, but thanks to sprinkler irrigation and the development of hybrid varieties, it spread to the Paris Basin. Rye is sown on the soils of the Central Massif, and rice is sown in the Rhone Delta. Potato and sugar beet crops are widespread. Sugar beet is cultivated in the north of the French lowlands, there are also sugar factories. Sugar is also produced from sugar cane from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion. Over the past 15 years, crops of rapeseed and sunflower have expanded. In some areas, hops, tobacco, flax are grown; near Nice there are flower plantations.

France, like Italy, is among the first in the world  in the collection of grapes, the manufacture and quality of vintage grape wines (60 million liters per year). They are produced in the Bordeaux region (Gironde), in Champagne, Alsace, the Loire Valley. Languedoc – the main area of viticulture – gives about 1/3 of the production of table wines. Vineyards in the areas of Armagnac and Cognac are used to produce the famous French cognacs.

In terms of fruit picking, France ranks third in Europe, behind Italy and Spain. Of the fruit trees of temperate latitudes, the most common are apple (in the north-west), pear and peach, in the Mediterranean regions – plums and citrus fruits. Vegetables are cultivated in the “garden belt” around major cities,  Paris, first of all. In general, viticulture and vegetable growing provide 8-10% of the total value of agricultural products.

  Animal husbandry of meat and dairy direction. In terms of meat production, France ranks first among the EU countries. The most important branch of animal husbandry is cattle breeding. The main livestock region is the Northwest. More than 1/3 of the livestock of cattle and pigs is concentrated here, horse breeding is developed. The second most important area in terms of cattle and pigs is the Massif Central. In terms of the number of pigs, France ranks second in Europe. Pig breeding is carried out in areas where potatoes, corn and sugar beets are cultivated, which serve as a good fodder base. As in other European countries, the consumption of pork, which is cheaper to produce, is growing rapidly (more than 34 kg per capita per year; beef consumption is about 26 kg per capita).

The central massif is the main sheep-breeding area; the increase in the number of livestock  is associated with an increase in demand for lamb and sheep cheese. Animal husbandry is poorly developed in the Mediterranean regions of the country, where the fodder base is poor.

In recent decades, poultry farming has developed well. The number of large hatchery poultry farms in the west and southwest has increased. However, the highest quality products are produced in farms and are guaranteed by trademarks. This applies, first of all, to the production of goose liver pate in Alsace and in the south-west of the country.

Fishing plays a great role in the economy of many cities on the atlantic coast and the English Channel. The main fishing ports are Boulogne, Lorient, La Rochelle, etc. Oyster fishing is developed.

From the service sector, the development of tourism and finance in France should be highlighted. France actively exports tourism services, attracting tourists from all over the world, and also actively exports capital (especially long-term) to the USA, Great Britain, Spain, Greece, Germany.

Transport. France has a dense network of roads and railways, a large length of navigable rivers, canals, pipelines, many seaports. In the domestic transportation of people and goods, road transport is the leader. The largest trans-French highway Lille-Paris – Lyon – Marseille – Nice. France occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of the provision of the population with cars (420 private cars per 1000 inhabitants), in terms of the length, density and quality of roads. The main part of domestic cargo transportation is provided by rail and pipeline transport. The railway network is particularly dense in industrial areas. Railways are distinguished by a high degree of electrification (35% electrified, the length of the railway network is 34 thousand kilometers), high speed of trains (270-300 kilometers per hour), good passenger service. Main railways: Paris – Lyon – Marseille; Paris –Tours – Bordeaux; Paris – Limoges – Toulouse and other routes connecting Paris with peripheral areas. The most important oil and product pipelines:

Marseille – Lyon – Stasbourg and Le Havre – Paris.

A significant part of the transportation of building materials and fuel is carried out by inland waterways along  navigable rivers and canals, with a length of about 7 thousand kilometers. The most important waterways are in the north and east of France. Their main core is the Seine, which is connected through the Oise and the Saint-Quentin Canal to the Northern Industrial Region, and through the Marne and the Marne-Rhine Canal to Lorraine, the Saar and the Rhine. The European Union attaches great importance  to the improvement of waterways connecting eastern France with neighbouring countries and with the North and Mediterranean Seas. To this end, work is being completed to modernize the rhine-Rhône canals and to improve navigation on the Seine and Rhône. The main river ports of the country are Paris, Strasbourg, Rouen.

France’s transport network has a radial configuration with a single hub in Paris. The most important railways and highways, many pipelines, and the main waterways converge to the capital.

In foreign relations, the navy and air transport play an extremely important role. Sea transportation is about 300 million tons per year. It should be noted that the weight of arriving goods is three times greater than that of those sent, because France exports lighter and more valuable goods by sea than it imports (more than 2/5 of the import is oil). About 75% of sea traffic goes through four ports: Marseille, Le Havre, Dunkirk and Rouen, but the most important are Marseille and Le Havre. Marseille, whose cargo turnover for the year exceeds 100 million tons, is second only to Rotterdam in Western Europe. It serves communications with the countries of the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Le Havre, whose cargo turnover is about 80 million tons, and Rouen are the seaports of Paris. The Port of Dunkirk is the sea gate of the Northern Industrial Area. The western regions of France are served by the ports of Bordeaux and Nantes-Saint-Nazaire. Until recently, Boulogne, Dieches and Calais, serving communications with England, were of great importance in passenger traffic. Since 1994, the tunnel under the Pas-de-Calais has been used for this purpose. The main naval bases are Brest and Toulon.

In air transportation, the main role is played by the state-owned company “Air France” and the airport of Paris.