France Balance of Trade

Last Release

Oct 31, 2024

Actual

-7,666

Units In

EUR Million

-8,266

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Jan 08, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 0 Days 13 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
2,674 Oct 1997	-17,486.7 Sep 2022	-1,929.29 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

The trade gap in France narrowed to €7.7 billion in October 2024 from a downwardly revised $8.4 billion in September and below forecasts of an €8 billion shortfall. Month-on-month, exports rose 0.9% to €48.7 billion, mainly driven by higher sales of refined petroleum products and coke (+24.4%), and agricultural, forestry, fishing and aquaculture products (+3.7%). Exports grew to all key regions, namely the European Union (+0.7%), Africa (+0.5%), America (+5.4%), Middle East (+0.7%), and Asia (+3.9%). Meanwhile, imports fell 0.5% to €56.4 billion, primarily due to lower purchases of refined petroleum products and coke (-2.2%), and transport equipment (-6.5%). Among regions, imports fell from the European Union (-0.6%), America (-1.4%), and Asia (-3.7%).