France's economy expanded in the third quarter as a drop in oil prices boosted consumer spending, delaying the country's slide into a recession because of the global economic crisis.

Gross domestic product in the euro-region's second-largest economy rose 0.1 percent from the second quarter, when it shrank 0.3 percent, Paris-based national statistics office Insee said yesterday. The figures are unchanged from a Nov 14 estimate. Margins of companies declined and households dug into their savings, the report also showed.

"Households have benefited from the significant drop in energy prices," said Frederique Cerisier, an economist at BNP Paribas in Paris. "They remain confronted with the unemployment increase," she said, adding that "private consumption should be mediocre for the second consecutive year".