Indeed, France's trade balance is seeing its deficit grow even further this year to reach €62.3 billion, an increase of around €15 billion compared to 2016.

The reason for this is an increase in the energy bill with an increase of 24.6% and an increase in imports of manufacturing products due to the recovery in household consumption.

The timid increase in exports of manufacturing products +4.4% does not compensate for that of imports.

French exporting companies form a small club, only 124,000 in 2017, a figure that has not evolved since 2016.

In Italy there is double and even triple in Germany.

Source(s): www.lesechos.fr