French Trade Gap Narrows In August

(RTTNews) - France's trade deficit decreased in August as imports fell faster than exports, data released by the customs office showed on Tuesday.

The trade deficit dropped to EUR 5.53 billion in August from EUR 5.74 billion in July. The expected shortfall was EUR 5.2 billion.

In the corresponding month last year, the trade deficit was EUR 7.15 billion.

During August, the energy balance improved by EUR 0.3 billion due to an increase in exports amid a fall in imports. 

Exports posted a monthly decrease of 0.1 percent, and imports were 0.4 percent lower. On an annual basis, both exports and imports grew by 2.4 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.