According to figures published on August 8 by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and the French Abroad, France’s trade deficit fell dramatically in the first half of 2023, from 89 to 54 billion euros.

The French trade deficit fell sharply in the first half. It fell to 54,000 million, compared to 89 in the previous semester, which is a very clear improvement since it should be remembered that in 2022 France registered its largest trade deficit since 1949.

So how can this rare improvement be explained? Most of the recovery comes from the country’s energy exchanges. Lower energy prices in recent months have reduced our oil and gas import bill. Especially since on the side of energy exports, France is also climbing the slope.

Traditional sectors are performing again

In fact, France has once again become the first electricity exporting country in Europe, taking advantage of the restart of nuclear reactors and a good level of wind energy production.

Should we see the first effects of reindustrialization in the improvement of our foreign trade? It is still too early to tell.

Because beyond energy, the sectors that have contributed to the recovery of our trade with the rest of the world are, in fact, the traditional champions that have taken their place.

Aeronautics has thus seen its exports accelerate and registers a surplus of 16,000 million euros, the same occurs with perfumery and cosmetics, with a surplus of 8,000 million euros. Exports from the automotive sector increased 8%, driven by electricity, and the textile sector advanced 3%.

There is still a long way to go…

For three, even four years, there have been clearly positive signs in the French industrial fabric. For example, there are more factory openings than closings, but here we are talking about a few hundred industrial jobs created rather than destroyed.

It should also be noted that France attracts more foreign investment than Germany or the UK. But this is only the beginning of a recovery when in the last 20 years, the country has lost almost half of its factories and a third of its industrial jobs.

Recent projects are encouraging, such as the large battery factories located in the North, but they are not yet visible in the figures…