France, a poor export student – archyde

Despite the global economic recovery, France is still skating on exports. France’s trade balance figures are indeed still bad.

France’s trade deficit widens a little more in 2021

Even if all the restrictions related to the pandemic have not yet been fully lifted, international trade has nevertheless regained strength. However, France is not benefiting from this upturn in activity, far from it. Proof of this is with the latest figures published by French customs which show that France’s trade deficit has not only not recovered but has even deteriorated. France’s trade balance is thus in deficit of nearly 35 billion euros in the first half of 2021 alone, i.e. 2.2 billion euros more than in the first half of 2020, however particularly marred by the pandemic. Looking a little more into the numbers, a strong imbalance between exports and imports is at work. Sales of goods have regained strength in exports with revenue amounting to more than 240 billion euros in the first half of 2021, which is still + 18.4% compared to the first half of 2020. But imports were higher than exports, representing a business volume of 275 billion euros over the first six months of 2021, an increase of 16.9% compared to 2020. The main ones The explanations for this marked increase in imports are linked to the recovery of the industrial sector in France and to a significant increase in the level of household consumption.

Export still struggling in France

If consumption allows the French economy to pick up as best it can, it is really not the same for exports. They are still struggling, as the aeronautics sector perfectly illustrates. As one of the spearheads of France’s economic activity, aeronautical exports have been hit hard by the effects of the global crisis. The air transport sector has indeed been in the throes of the pandemic since the start of the pandemic and the horizon does not seem to brighten up until 2024 according to the most optimistic observers. As a result, export sales in the aeronautics sector – which nevertheless represent 10% of total French exports – barely reached 50% of their usual pre-crisis level. Planes and aircraft equipment are not selling as well as they used to be. However, INSEE is still counting on a gradual recovery in exports over the coming months. The continued lifting of restrictions should ultimately allow France to rebuild its health on its export markets. But it will not be easy, however, because Brexit has caused France to lose its very first export customer and will have to be active to find new commercial outlets.