French Trade Deficit Narrows in 2024

(Reuters) – The French trade deficit continued to narrow in 2024, according to the country’s customs office.

The deficit has now improved for the second consecutive year, following a historic low of more than 162 billion euros ($168.4 billion) in 2022.

In 2024, the deficit was approximately 81 billion euros, up from around 100 billion euros the previous year, as indicated by customs data.

This improvement was largely driven by a surplus in energy, particularly electricity, as well as manufactured goods, as reported by customs officials.

Nevertheless, last year’s trade balance was still 23 billion euros lower than that of 2019, largely due to high costs for imported energy and a decline in the balance of transport equipment.

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