The statistics department of the French Customs Service has announced France’s foreign trade results for the month of June 2024 (7 August 2024)
June 2024 results: in June 2024, France’s trade deficit remained at €7.1 billion
Staying on trend, in June 20241 France’s trade deficit remained at €7.1 billion.
Month-on-month, exports and imports both dropped slightly (down €0.1 billion), amounting to €50.8 billion and €57.9 billion respectively.
In June 2024, the energy balance narrowed by €0.2 billion, mainly driven by the rise in exports in this sector. The trade surplus in consumer goods rose again (up €0.1 billion). The balance of capital goods remains stable, while our intermediate goods deficit continues to grow (down €0.2 billion).
The balance of trade across the 12-month period, which has been continuously improving since February 2023, continued to narrow at a more moderate pace in June 2024 (up €1.1 billion) and the deficit now stands at €85.1 billion.
EXTERNAL TRADE BALANCE (FOB/FOB) - (IN BILLIONS OF EUROS)
1 The monthly statistics in this document are presented as a trend, meaning they are calculated based on a series of foreign trade figures, with a three-point centred moving average
Link to the publication (in French):
https://lekiosque.finances.gouv.fr/fichiers/nationales/revue/Chiffre_062024.pdf
Analysis of Q2 2024: in the second quarter of 2024, France’s trade deficit widened after having narrowed for six consecutive quarters
In the second quarter of 2024, France’s trade balance widened by €3 billion compared to the first quarter of 2024, reaching €21.4 billion. This came after six consecutive quarters where the deficit narrowed by half. The widening of the trade balance in the second quarter of 2024 was mainly due to the energy sector. An improvement in the balance with the United States was not enough to make up for the widening balance with Asia and the European Union.
Nevertheless, overall, in the first half of 2024, the FOB/FOB trade balance improved by €5.5 billion compared to the second half of 2023. This increase, which was significantly less than that of the previous semester (up €9.5 billion) can be explained by a drop in imports (down 1.2%) and, to a lesser extent, a rise in exports (up 0.4%).
After six quarters where imports dropped, the second quarter of 2024 brought an increase. They rose by 2.8% and reached €174.1 billion. This rise was mainly due to a buoyant natural gas supply. Despite an overall increase in imports of manufactured products, auto imports have decreased, particularly imports of electric cars from China.
Exports rose by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2024, slightly more than in the first quarter, and reached €152.7 billion. This increase was mostly due to the delivery of an ocean liner to the United States, and strong sales in the aviation industry. Inversely, exports of chemical products dropped, along with electricity, to a backdrop of lower energy prices.
CHANGE IN TRADE BALANCE BY PRODUCT (CAF/FOB) - (IN BILLIONS OF EUROS)
Source: DGDDI/DSECE
Link to the publication (in French):
https://lekiosque.finances.gouv.fr/fichiers/etudes/thematiques/2T2024.pdf
Download the summary of foreign trade results - Q1 2024 (PDF - 986 Ko)
The next publication, which will present the foreign trade results for July 2024, will be uploaded on Friday, 6 September 2024 at 08.45 a.m.