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Day: 14 December 2023

Monaco on track for strong economic year, says IMSEE’s Q3 report

by: Stephanie Horsman
14/12/2023

The first nine months of 2023 have seen sustained economic growth, bank held assets on the rise and job creation on the up. Here are the key takeaways of IMSEE’s Q3 report.  

Monaco’s dedicated statistical agency, IMSEE, has just released its third quarterly report for 2023, which compares aggregate data compiled since 1st January to the same time period for 2022.  

By and large, the report’s findings are favourable, with “most of the Principality’s economic indicators still up in the third quarter”.  

ECONOMY 

As of 30th September, Monaco’s revenue exceeded €15 billion, demonstrating a “sustained growth” of 9.1%, equal to €1.3 billion, compared to 2022, in which revenue grew by a colossal 22.5%.  

The strongest sector was scientific and technical activities, which gained 43.3% on the previous year to hit close to €3.4 billion. This sector also accounts for 80% of overall economic growth in the first nine months of 2023. According to IMSEE, this exponential growth is “mainly due to the activities of quantity surveyors”, who more than doubled their returns on comparative 2022 figures.  

Also high on the performance list was the financial and insurance activities sector, which saw an enormous 88.3% rise from 2022 to just over €3 billion, and the construction sector, which surpassed the €2 billion mark and gained 20.5% on 2022. Retail was also strong, making in excess of €1.7 billion.  

FOREIGN TRADE STAGNATES  

Regarding foreign trade, excluding business with France, the IMSEE report acknowledges that “despite a favourable situation in the first half of 2023, the overall volume of trade stagnated at the end of September, and its value (€2.6 billion), was only slightly higher than that recorded for the same period in 2022”. 

Foreign trade increased by just 0.5% on January to September 2022 figures.

ASSET MANAGEMENT 

Total assets under management in Monaco rose by 5.9% year-on-year, according to the data, “despite a slight 1.4% fall in deposits”. Loans granted by Monaco-based banks declined by 7%.  

As confirmed by IMSEE, Monaco has attracted two new asset management companies so far in 2023, but has also said goodbye to two banks.  

EMPLOYMENT 

The number of private sector jobs rose by 4.5% to nearly 63,000 by the end of the third quarter: 2,700 more than in 2022. The information and communication sector led the charge here, adding 15.8% more jobs than the previous year. The motion picture, television and video activities workforce doubled its numbers, thanks in large part to the creation of the new TV station in Monaco.  

The construction sector also saw a considerable rise in its number of workers, up more than 8% to 6,600 employees. It now represents just over 10% of the private sector workforce in Monaco.  

Employees worked a lot more in 2023 too, chalking up more than 77 million hours worked, 4.3 million more than during the same time period in 2022. 

There were a net 260 new businesses created in the first nine months of 2023, with 648 created and 388 closures. 30 new employers also joined the books, bringing the total to 6,396. 

To read the report for yourself, click here.

 

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Photo source: Braden Egli, Unsplash

 

More than 100 drugs available in EU deemed “more dangerous than useful”

by: Stephanie Horsman
14/12/2023

Prescrire magazine has released its annual list of medications that are currently available in the EU, but are potentially hazardous to human health. Of the 105 drugs featured, 88 are prescribed in France. 

For the past 12 years, Prescrire magazine has put out a list of medications on sale and available on prescription in the EU that its team of researchers say should be avoided. This year, the list of drugs deemed “more dangerous than useful” has surpassed the 100-mark, and more than 80% are available in France.

The report is based on documented research and considers criteria such as effectiveness, comparisons to other available treatment options and adverse side effects.  

The researchers behind the report employ what is referred to as a “benefit-risk balance” to evaluate “the beneficial therapeutic effects in comparison with the risks linked to the safety of use of a medication”.   

Active, updated and newly approved medications are all considered, as well as drugs that are not yet proven to be more effective than a placebo, but still expose consumers to serious side effects.  

WHAT’S ON THE LIST 

The list is updated annually, with drugs being added and removed as deemed necessary.

For example, teriflunomide, an immunosuppressant authorised for multiple sclerosis has returned to the list for 2024 after being taken off in 2023 in order to better assess its benefit-risk balance in children under the age of 10. The results were not favourable, so back on the list it went.  

Other medications that had appeared in last year’s list, such as fenfluramine, which is used in the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome and Lennox–Gastaut syndrome in children, have been removed. Fenfluramine was deemed to have a positive benefit-risk balance for the latter syndrome, but the jury is still out regarding its helpfulness is treating young patients with Dravet, a rare, genetic epileptic encephalopathy that comes with seizures that are hard to treat.  

To find out more and to see Prescrire’s full list, click here.

 

Join the Monaco Life community – the largest English media in the Principality.   

Sign up for the Monaco Life newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

 

Photo source: Ksenia Yakovleva, Unsplash