France’s trade deficit narrowed in November to 7.4 billion euros, favored by an increase in exports and a decline in imports, according to Customs data published on Tuesday. The trade balance improved by 300 million euros compared to the month of October which showed a deficit of 7.7 billion euros, according to updated figures compared to the previous month. French exports increased by 200 million euros over one month, to reach 49.6 billion euros, while imports decreased by 100 million euros to stand at 57 billion euros, indicate the Customs.
Weighing heavily on the French trade balance, the energy balance has improved, driven by the drop in the price of imported energy products. The energy balance deficit is now 5 billion euros, an improvement of 100 million euros compared to October. Excluding energy, the French trade balance also continues to improve, with a deficit of 4.3 billion compared to 4.6 billion euros the previous month. After having weighed heavily on the French trade balance throughout 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, the energy bill shows signs of improvement month after month.
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Since February, the cumulative trade deficit over twelve months has improved and reached 110.3 billion euros at the end of November, suggesting a trade deficit of around 100 billion euros when the annual trade deficit is published next month. Over the whole of 2022, it peaked at a record amount of 164 billion euros, weighed down by the cost of energy imported by France. On the trade in services side, the surplus is stable, at 2 billion euros, indicated the Banque de France in a press release also published on Tuesday.
In total, the current transactions balance (an indicator which includes both exchanges of goods, services and income) is in deficit of 2.8 billion euros, after a deficit of 3.4 billion euros on last month.
