France Balance of Trade

Last Release

Feb 29, 2024

Actual

-5,244

Units In

EUR Million

-7,387.5

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 09, 2024

Time to Release

28 Days 19 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
2,674 Oct 1997	-17,486.7 Sep 2022	-1,866.38 EUR Million	1970-2024	N/A

Since 2004, France has been recording trade deficits due the gradual erosion of the export-oriented industry, the appreciation of the euro and the increasing dependency on imports of energy and manufactured products. In 2017, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with: China & Hong Kong, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium; while the biggest trade surpluses were recorded with: the Middle East, the UK, Africa and Switzerland.

Latest Updates

France’s trade deficit narrowed to €5.2 billion in February 2024 from a downwardly revised €7.2 billion in the previous month and came less than market expectations of €7.0 billion. It was the lowest trade deficit since January 2021, as exports rose 4.7% month-over-month to a seven-month high of €51.1 billion, while imports increased at a softer 0.5% to €56.3 billion. At the same time, the energy shortfall decreased to €3.8 billion from €4.5 billion in the prior period. Excluding energy, the trade deficit declined to €2.8 billion compared to €4.0 billion in January. In the manufacturing sector, the trade surplus for consumer goods rose by €0.1 billion, reaching €0.8 billion. Meanwhile, the shortfall for investment goods went up by €0.3 billion, standing at €3.2 billion, while it dropped for intermediate goods to €0.9 billion from €1.8 billion previously.