The French economy grew slightly in the last quarter of 2023, revised final data from the country's statistics office INSEE showed on Thursday, helped by faster growth in services consumption and foreign trade.

The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew 0.1% in the final three months of last year, INSEE said in its quarterly GDP report, revising its preliminary reading of no quarter-on-quarter growth published last month.

The growth comes after a flat third quarter.

Foreign trade was a positive factor in the last quarter of the year, contributing 0.9 percentage points, said INSEE, while French domestic demand and inventories contributed negatively, subtracting 0.1 and 0.7 percentage points, respectively.

Purchasing power rose 0.6% in the fourth quarter, after declining for three consecutive quarters, while the savings ratio came in at 17.9%, up from 17.3% the previous quarter.

The country's economic growth for the year was confirmed at 0.9%, down from 2.5% in 2022.

The European Commission expects France's GDP to grow the same 0.9% in 2024, while growth in the 20 countries sharing the euro combined should come in at 0.8%.

France itself lowered earlier this month its 2024 GDP growth forecast to 1% from 1.4% due to the impact of the Ukraine and Gaza wars, and a slowdown at top trading partners Germany and China.

The country's economy is set to expand quarter-on-quarter by 0.2% in both the first and second quarter of 2024, INSEE said earlier in February. (Reporting by Piotr Lipinski; Editing by Toby Chopra)