2019.04.0503:25:00UTC+00France Trade Deficit Narrows In February

France's merchandise trade deficit narrowed in February after widening at the start of the year, preliminary data from the French Customs showed on Friday.

The visible trade gap shrunk to EUR 4.002 billion from EUR 4.213 billion in January. Economists had forecast a larger shortfall of EUR 4.550 billion. A year ago, the deficit was EUR 4.559 billion.

The growth in exports surpassed that of imports in February. Exports grew 0.9 percent month-on-month and imports rose 0.4 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, exports increased 4.6 percent and imports grew 3.4 percent in February.

Special shipments and a partial rebound in foreign sales of refined petroleum products were offset by a sharp drop in aeronautical deliveries, the agency said.

Increased imports of pharmaceutical products were offset by lower energy supplies.