France’s Trade Deficit Widens to €7.3 Billion in September as Energy Imports Climb
France’s goods trade deficit widened by €1.3 billion to €7.3 billion in September, as imports led by energy and computers outpaced exports, French customs figures showed.
For France, the month more than reverses August’s improvement and leaves the monthly gap at its widest since May. In The Edge’s reading, September’s widening rests on items that can turn quickly: customs puts the higher energy import bill down essentially to energy prices, while the aircraft deliveries that lifted exports swing from month to month. Over 12 months the deficit, at €64.4 billion, is still narrower than in 2025.
The headline figures are free on board at both ends (FOB/FOB), adjusted for seasonal and working-day effects, and include military equipment. Imports rose €2.4 billion to €62.7 billion. Exports gained €1.0 billion to €55.3 billion. They covered 88.3% of imports, against 90.1% in August.
The product and regional detail uses a second basis, with imports valued including cost, insurance and freight (CIF/FOB) and military equipment and below-threshold trade left out. On that basis the September deficit was €9.2 billion, €1.2 billion wider than in August.
Energy and computer imports widen the deficit
Energy imports rose €0.9 billion to €8.0 billion. On the CIF/FOB basis, they made up 12.6% of all imports and about 40% of the month’s rise in purchases. Refined petroleum products added €0.6 billion and natural hydrocarbons €0.3 billion, in particular from the United States. The rise in value came essentially from higher energy prices, the release said.
The energy deficit widened by €0.6 billion to €4.4 billion. That is about 48% of the CIF/FOB trade gap. Natural hydrocarbons alone account for a €4.3 billion shortfall. Electricity remains in surplus, at €0.7 billion.
Mechanical, electronic and computer equipment imports rose €0.5 billion, notably on large purchases of computers and peripherals from Asia. The group’s deficit widened by €0.5 billion to €3.3 billion. Computer, electronic and optical products made up €2.3 billion of it.
Other industrial products added €0.4 billion of imports, with pharmaceuticals, metal products and miscellaneous manufactures up €0.2 billion each. The pharmaceutical balance slipped €0.2 billion to zero. Ship and boat purchases from South Korea and China rose €0.3 billion.
Balance by product group, September 2026 (in € billions)
| Product | Balance | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | -4.4 | -0.6 |
| Natural hydrocarbons | -4.3 | -0.4 |
| Computers, electronics | -2.3 | -0.4 |
| Cars | -2.2 | 0.1 |
| Metal products | -1.0 | -0.3 |
| Pharmaceutical products | 0.0 | -0.2 |
| Chemicals, perfumes, cosmetics | 1.5 | 0.1 |
| Aerospace | 3.1 | 0.7 |
CIF/FOB basis, seasonally and working-day adjusted, excluding military equipment and below-threshold trade; change against August 2026. Selected lines; natural hydrocarbons are part of energy.
Transport equipment, led by aircraft, drives the export rise
Transport equipment supplied more than half of the export rise, up €0.6 billion. Within it, aerospace products added €0.4 billion and cars €0.3 billion. The car deficit narrowed by €0.1 billion to €2.2 billion. It came in a month when car output rose 7.5% after a 2.9% fall, as INSEE’s industrial production figures set out on 5 November.
Aerospace exports reached €6.3 billion, about 12% of all CIF/FOB exports. The aerospace surplus improved by €0.7 billion to €3.1 billion, the largest of any product line in the release’s table. Chemicals, perfumes and cosmetics ran the next largest surplus, at €1.5 billion.
Refined petroleum deliveries also rose €0.4 billion, a gain the release attributes essentially to energy export prices. Agriculture, food industries and other industrial products each added €0.1 billion.
The swing shows in the August release of 7 October. Exports fell €0.4 billion that month, mainly through lower transport equipment deliveries, in particular aircraft to the Near and Middle East, and the balance with that region worsened by €0.6 billion. September reversed it.
The Middle East surplus improves while the Asian gap widens
Exports to the Near and Middle East rose €0.6 billion to €1.9 billion, essentially on large aeronautical deliveries to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. That one region supplied roughly half of the month’s CIF/FOB export rise, and France’s surplus with it rose to €1.4 billion.
Asia went the other way. Imports from the region rose €0.6 billion to €13.3 billion, partly on computers and peripherals from China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Singapore. The deficit with Asia widened by €0.7 billion to €6.8 billion. That is about 74% of the total CIF/FOB gap. China and Hong Kong accounted for €4.6 billion of it.
The balance with the Americas worsened by €0.5 billion, notably on natural hydrocarbon purchases from the United States, where the deficit reached €1.4 billion.
With the European Union the balance slipped €0.5 billion to a €1.3 billion deficit. Imports from the bloc rose €0.7 billion, mainly from Ireland and Belgium, while exports to it gained €0.3 billion, notably to Italy and Spain. Exports to Hungary fell back €0.3 billion after the previous month’s peak.
Balance by region, September 2026 (in € billions)
| Region | Balance | Change |
|---|---|---|
| European Union | -1.3 | -0.5 |
| Europe outside the EU | 0.9 | -0.4 |
| Asia | -6.8 | -0.7 |
| China and Hong Kong | -4.6 | -0.3 |
| Americas | -1.4 | -0.5 |
| United States | -1.4 | -0.4 |
| Africa | -0.5 | 0.4 |
| Near and Middle East | 1.4 | 0.6 |
CIF/FOB basis, seasonally and working-day adjusted, excluding military equipment and below-threshold trade; change against August 2026. China and Hong Kong are part of Asia; the United States is part of the Americas. Not shown: other destinations, -1.5.
The 12-month deficit stays below the 2025 total
The 12-month deficit widened for a third straight month to €64.4 billion, the release said. That compares with €65.5 billion for calendar 2025 and €78.5 billion for 2024.
Over the 12 months, exports of €643.4 billion were 4.1% above the 2025 total. Imports were 3.6% higher, at €708.0 billion. Exports covered 90.9% of imports, against 90.4% in 2025.
On a quarterly view the widening is smaller. The third-quarter analysis from the same office puts the deficit at €19.9 billion, €0.7 billion wider than in the second quarter. Imports rose 1.3% on the quarter and exports 1.1%.
August was revised. First published at €6.1 billion, its deficit now stands at €6.0 billion after corrected data were added. August exports were raised to €54.3 billion from €54.2 billion.
Trade in goods, monthly and annual (in € billions)
| Period | Export | Import | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 55.3 | 62.7 | -7.3 |
| Aug 2026 | 54.3 | 60.3 | -6.0 |
| Jul 2026 | 54.8 | 61.5 | -6.6 |
| Jun 2026 | 54.6 | 60.3 | -5.8 |
| May 2026 | 53.3 | 61.0 | -7.7 |
| Apr 2026 | 54.9 | 60.6 | -5.8 |
| 12 months to Sep | 643.4 | 708.0 | -64.4 |
| 2025 | 617.9 | 683.6 | -65.5 |
| 2024 | 602.2 | 680.7 | -78.5 |
FOB/FOB basis, seasonally and working-day adjusted, including military equipment; balances as published, which can differ from exports less imports through rounding.
What to watch:
8 December 2026, 07:45 GMT: the October trade figures are due.
Method: figures are from French customs’ (DGDDI, DSECE) monthly release “Le chiffre du commerce extérieur” for September 2026, No. 411, dated 6 November 2026, and its August 2026 release, No. 410, dated 7 October 2026, and from its third-quarter 2026 analysis, with car output from INSEE’s industrial production release No. 269 of 5 November 2026; shares, ratios and percentages not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.
Sources: French Customs (DGDDI), INSEE, The Edge.
