A man makes a phone call near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, May 15, 2020. France's national statistics institute INSEE said on May 29 that France's gross domestic product (GDP) was revised down by 0.5 point to minus 5.3 percent for the first three months of the year. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
PARIS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- France's national statistics institute INSEE said on Friday that France's gross domestic product (GDP) was revised down by 0.5 point to minus 5.3 percent for the first three months of the year.
"In Q1 2020, GDP fell sharply: -5.3 percent after -0.1 percent in Q4 2019, thus a revision of 0.5 point compared with the first estimate published in April," said INSEE in a statement.
"This unusually large revision was due to the replacement of estimates for March, which were heavily affected by the lockdown measures, by the usual indicators, particularly in transport services and investment in services," it said.
In the first quarter, household consumption expenditure and total gross fixed capital formation dropped by 5.6 percent and 10.5 percent respectively, INSEE added.
Earlier this week, INSEE said the French economy would contract by 20 percent in the second quarter this year as the country was under strict lockdown from mid-March to stem the coronavirus epidemic. Enditem
