07.09.201803:34:00UTC+00France July Trade Deficit Narrows More Than Expected

France's visible trade deficit for July narrowed from a year ago, figures from the Customs Service showed Friday.

The trade gap shrunk to EUR 3.49 billion from EUR 6.00 billion in the same month last year. Economists had forecast a shortfall of EUR 5.73 billion.

In June, the trade deficit was EUR 6.07 billion.

On a month-on-month basis, exports rose 1.2 percent in July, after 0.9 percent in June. In contrast, imports fell 4.4 percent after a revised 0.9 percent growth in the previous month.

Compared to a year ago, exports grew 3 percent and imports climbed 3.1 percent.

Imports fell sharply mainly in energy and pharmaceuticals. Export growth was supported by high volume of shipments from the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries.

Trade balance with the EU improved, largely due to less purchases. The balance with Asia also improved as the region was the most preferred destination for Airbus deliveries during July.