The government welcomes the improvement in the trade deficit in June

France's trade deficit stabilized in June, standing at 7,1 billion euros, a performance due to a slight equivalent decrease in imports and exports, Customs announced this Wednesday.

A fragile balance

The figures reveal that both imports and exports fell by 100 million euros, reaching 57,9 billion and 50,8 billion euros respectively. This stability led to an upward revision of the trade balance for the month of May, initially announced at -7,8 billion euros, which is now estimated at -7,1 billion euros.

Since February 2023, the twelve-month cumulative trade balance has shown continued improvement, although more moderate in June compared to previous months. The overall deficit was reduced by 1,1 billion euros, reaching -85,1 billion euros.

Declining energy deficit

The energy deficit decreased by 200 million euros, reaching 5,6 billion euros, thanks to an increase in exported volumes and stability in imports. The prices of energy products, for their part, varied little. However, this improvement was offset by an equivalent drop in the non-energy balance, notably a decrease of 100 million euros for manufactured products.

Consumer goods surplus on the rise

Consumer goods, the balance of which has been in surplus since November 2023, increased by another 100 million euros. According to Customs, this is “its longest period of surplus since the 2000s”. On the other hand, the balance of investment goods remained stable, while that of intermediate goods continued to deteriorate, mainly due to a drop in exports.

Government optimism

Reacting to these results, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Franck Riester, was optimistic. On the social network X, he declared that “France has solid support in a disrupted international context”. He praised the performance of the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, agri-food and aeronautics sectors.

Remarkable performance in services

The minister also highlighted that France is breaking records in services, attributing this success to the excellent performance of financial services and the tourism sector. He cited the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, sporting competitions and international summits as proof of France's capacity to host large-scale events.

Although the published figures do not yet take into account the impact of the Olympic Games, Franck Riester expressed his confidence in the future economic potential of France, concluding that “France knows how to welcome the world”.

Alice Leroy