Official data released on Friday showed that France’s trade deficit hit a record high in November.
Just days after the US Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the U.S. trade deficit soared to a near-record high of $80.2 billion in November, France posted some downbeat economic news themselves.
The French deficit in November jumped to 9.727 billion euros ($10.99 billion) from the 7.697 billion euros posted a month earlier. The value of imports in November hit an all-time high of 52.5 billion euros having climbed from the 51.3 billion euros posted in October.
The world’s seventh-largest economy has, like many countries, been in the grip of an energy crisis since last year. Spiraling energy prices is sending the cost of imports to record levels.
Meanwhile, the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions added instant and sizeable demand upon already depleted stocks of natural gas, which sent gas prices, related commodities, and carbon emission permits to their highest level in years.
French Industrial Production Posts Surprise Decline
Compounding matters further for France was news that French Industrial Production posted a surprise decline in November.
Other official data released on Friday showed a 0.4% decline in French total industrial output, consisting of output in manufacturing, energy, and construction, in November from the month before.
Manufacturing output, which is the largest component of industrial production, fell 0.6% in November from the previous month.
November’s surprise decline came after market analysts predicted a 0.5% increase in total industrial output for the month.
Also worrying was the fact that November’s Industrial production was 5.0% lower than February 2020’s pre-pandemic levels,
