French trade deficit widens to 20-month high

France's trade deficit widened in February to a 20-month high of 5.2 billion euros. The figure is up 1.3 billion, or 25 per cent, on the previous month.

Some Euro cent coins Wikimedia Commons

France's customs office attributed the trade deficit increase to higher auto and aerospace imports. The office of eurozone's second largest economy on Thursday said, "Exports edged down (off 0.2 per cent after a a 0.5 per cent January rise) while imports rose," by 2.8 per cent after a 0.6 per cent January increase.

The trade deficit helped to expand the current-account deficit to 3.9 billion euros in February from a revised 2.2 billion in January, the French central bank said, while noting export performance had been "particularly strong" in January.

The latest data show direct foreign investment in France, at 4.4 billion euros, topped French investment abroad of 1.7 billion in February.

The current account balance is a useful indicator of economic performance in going beyond mere exchange of goods, France having run a trade deficit consistently over the past decade.

- with AFP