France posts largest trade deficit since October 2023

France has reported its biggest trade balance deficit since October 2023 in April.

The trade shortfall widened to EUR 7.6 billion in April from EUR 5.4 billion in March.

The nation’s total exports went down 1.7% month-over-month to EUR 51.2 billion in April, while total imports went up 2.3% to EUR 58.8 billion.

The energy deficit widened to EUR 6.1 billion in April from EUR 4.6 billion in March.

In the meantime, in France’s manufacturing segment, the trade deficit for intermediate goods went up by EUR 0.9 billion to EUR 2.0 billion, while the shortfall for investment goods decreased by EUR 0.1 billion to EUR 1.6 billion in April.

Additionally, the trade surplus for consumer goods narrowed to EUR 0.1 billion, the data showed.

The EUR/JPY currency pair settled 0.10% lower at 169.266 on Friday. For the week, the minor currency pair went down 0.77%, as it snapped a four-week streak of gains.