France’s trade deficit widened further to reach 9 billion euros in November. This is the “lowest monthly balance ever reached,” Customs announced on Friday.
Imports reached a record level and were weighed down by the rise in the prices of raw materials, especially energy. This further degrades the deficit compared to October, when it stood at 8.1 billion euros. In January 2021, the deficit was 4.5 billion.
In November, the cumulative deficit over 12 months amounted to 77.6 billion euros, “or 2.6 billion more than the record annual deficit of 2011”, note the Customs. Over the same month, the amount of imports reached “the historic sum” of 52.5 billion euros. If they have only increased by 2.6% in volume since the start of the year, they have jumped 20.1% in value.
Exports are also growing
This increase is explained “in large part by the rise in the prices of raw materials, especially energy, and industrial products”, according to Customs. The end of the year also saw an “unusual peak in electricity imports”, as well as “dynamic growth in gas and oil supplies”. France, traditionally an exporter of electricity, was a net importer in November; national production is not enough to meet demand, explain the Customs, due to a context of soaring electricity prices.
Despite everything, exports have also increased, but at a slower pace of 400 million euros on average per month since the start of the year. They stood at 43.5 billion euros in November, almost at the level of the peak of April 2019. Here too, the increase is greater in value than in volume.
As for the balance of payments, which includes trade in services, the current account deficit (goods and services) stood at 3.6 billion euros in November, widening by 1.1 billion compared to the month previous, detailed the Banque de France.
