2026-02-06 08:08:00
For some context, the French trade deficit is still on recovery mode after having hit its highest point in 2022 amid the whole Russia-Ukraine conflict. That drove up import prices for energy by almost double compared to 2021, resulting in a trade deficit of €161.7.
As such, the narrowing to a deficit of €69.2 billion last year keeps with the improvement as once again the better showing is driven by energy developments. Despite the improvement in the trade deficit, it remains €11.1 billion higher in 2025 than its 2019 level. So, we’re not quite back to levels seen before the Covid pandemic just yet.
Despite Trump tariffs and what is described in the report as an “unfavourable” exchange rate, French exports to the US are seen holding up last year (+0.3%) at €48.3 billion. In terms of total trade volume, both the US and China are almost on equal footing in terms of importance to France in 2025.
And speaking of China, we’re seeing the same story with France as with Germany earlier. As before, China remains the largest source of France’s bilateral trade deficit. And this time largely due to imports rising by nearly 5% for the year. The jump was largely tied to an increase in imports of pharmaceutical products, which more than doubled (+131%) to €2.3 billion. But also, clothing and household appliances also showed increases last year with both accounting for ~12% of total imports from China.
Adding to that, origin washing must be taken into account too with some Chinese goods perhaps reaching France indirectly through Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam. Imports from that region saw a marked increase of 14% last year, so there’s that to consider too.
