BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

Global Business

Factual: Money

Insights into the business world from the BBC.

Global Business: Why are the French so productive?

Why are the French so productive?

08/04/2017 GMT

BBC World Service - Global Business, Why are the French so productive?

Jonty Bloom finds out the secret to France’s high productivity levels.

French workers are known for their long lunches and even longer holidays, but their productivity numbers make them the envy of some of their European neighbours.

France has productivity levels close to those seen in Germany and the United States, where people typically put more hours in at work. 

So how do they do it? And does high productivity always make for a better economy? Jonty Bloom travels to France to find out.

Producer: Ruth Alexander

(Image: Employees work on the assembly line at the Scania Truck plant in Angers, France. Credit: FRANK PERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Global Business

Why are the French so productive?

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service