PARIS The French economy managed to grow significantly more than expected in the second quarter, preliminary data from the INSEE statistics agency showed on Friday, as exports picked up.

"We see that for the first time, French growth is driven by exports, by corporate investment much more than by household consumption", Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio.

"This shows once more that our production engine is running well and efficiently," he added.

The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew 0.5% in the three months through to the end of June after expanding a revised 0.1% in the first quarter, INSEE said in its quarterly GDP report.

A Reuters poll of 29 economists had an average forecast of 0.1% with estimates ranging from 0.3% to minus 0.1%.

Exports growth jumped to 2.6% in the second quarter from a 0.8% contraction in Q1. Imports were up 0.4% from minus 2.0%.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Christopher Cushing)