French trade deficit continues to narrow in 2024

(Reuters) - French trade deficit continued to narrow in 2024, the country's customs office said on Friday.

The deficit continued to recover for a second consecutive year after a historic low of more than 162 billion euros ($168.4 billion) in 2022.

It was around 81 billion euros in 2024, up from a deficit of around 100 billion euros in the prior year, customs data showed.

The improvement was driven by energy, and electricity in particular which reached a historic surplus, and manufactured goods, the customs said.

However, last year's trade balance remained 23 billion euros below that of 2019, mainly due to the cost of imported energy and a worsening balance in transport equipment.

($1 = 0.9622 euros)

(Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz)