FOREIGN
TRADE
2016 Results
7 February 2017
Minister of State for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and
French Nationals Abroad
Table of contents
Summary
4
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
7
•
The deficit on trade in goods and services deepened, but was still smaller than the 2012 deficit
8
•
The €48.1-billion deficit on trade in goods was worse in 2016, but was still smaller than the 2014 deficit
9
•
The balance of trade in services was in equilibrium in 2016, following a contraction of the surplus comparable
to that seen in 2015. Meanwhile, the surplus on merchanting increased for the seventh year in a row to €23.5
billion.
10
•
All in all, the current account balance is nearly in equilibrium, in contrast to the major deficits and surpluses
seen in other EU countries
•
The industries that traditionally drive our foreign trade lost ground, but exports in the auto, shipbuilding and
military equipment industries were particularly strong in 2016
12
•
After increasing in each of the four previous years, the number of exporters was stable in 2016 at 124,100
•
France's market shares have stabilised since 2012
13
14
•
The slower growth of world trade in 2016 dampened France’s foreign trade performance, but this trend is
expected to fade in 2017
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
11
15
2
Summary
The trade deficit deepened in 2016, but the current account balance is still
nearly in equilibrium
+7%
increase in the trade deficit
The deficit on trade in
goods and services was still
€2.2 bn
• The trade deficit on goods and services increased
for the first time in five years, but was still
smaller than the 2012 deficit
smaller than the 2012
deficit
- 1.1%
the current account deficit
as a percentage of GDP
(provisional data)
• Despite a 7% increase, in contrast to the trend
seen since 2012, the trade deficit stood at €48.1
billion, which is €26 billion less than the record
deficit in 2011 and still smaller than the 2014
deficit
• The current account balance, which measures
France’s net borrowing with the rest of the
world, showed a larger deficit, but was still close
to equilibrium. It stood at €24 billion, or 1.1% of
GDP, in contrast to the major deficits and
surpluses seen in other EU countries
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
4
France’s export competitiveness improved and its global market shares,
along with the number of exporters, were stable
+ 6.9%
• A limited rise in the euro and measures to
reduce employers’ contributions led to an
improvement in cost
improvement in France’s export competitiveness
competitiveness since early 2014
and higher corporate earnings
compared to the OECD countries
124,100
• After increasing in each of the four previous
years, the number of exporters was stable in
2016 at 124,100
exporters
3.5%
France’s share of global trade
in goods and services
• France’s share of global exports has been stable
since 2011, after posting a steady decline
starting in the early 1990s. France's share of
goods exports: 3.3%
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
5
Some important dates in 2016
Export
promotion
and
reform
March Appointment of Jean-Patrick
Lajonchère, new coordinator for
healthcare goods and services exports
Jul. Introduction of domestic loan
guarantees to enable French shipbuilding
and aerospace companies to obtain loans
with a government guarantee
Jan. Launch of the FUSE
exchange rate guarantee
scheme for aerospace
companies
January
Economic
environment
Nov. Framework agreement between the
EIB and Société Générale (€150 million)
to finance the greening of merchant
marine fleets
February
March
April
May
Apr. Australia’s choice of
DCNS for the next
generation of its
submarines
Feb. Devaluation of the
Yuan following further
opening of China’s capital
account
June
July
August
September
Nov. Plan to boost tourism in France with
€42.7 million
October
November
Aug. Order for 30 Caracal
helicopters (Airbus
Helicopters) from Kuwait
Jun Britain vote to leave
the EU
May Delivery of the
cruise ship Harmony of
the Seas
May Order from Egypt for a
government communications
satellite from Thales and Airbus
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
December
Dec. Orders confirmed for 5
cruise ships (€4 billion) for
MSC and RCCL to be built by
STX
Sept. Order for 36 Rafale
aircraft from India
Oct. Signature of CETA
Dec. Contract for 100
Airbus airplanes for
Iran Air
Nov. OPEC agreement to cut
production
6
France's
2016
foreign
trade
in
The deficit on goods and services deepened, but was still smaller than it was in
2012
Trade in goods and services, in € billion, including merchanting
800
Importations
: +0,8 %
Imports : +0.8%
29,1
700
21,1
20,1
600
632,5
14,2
13,9
553,7
524,4
500
423,6
400
409,7
437,6 442,9
417,5
413,9
429,1
450,0
477,2
476,9
518,0
590,4
540,7
561,5
568,2
500,6
652,9
648,3
592,0
629,9
619,1
535,7
668,7
A deficit of €27 billion on trade
in goods and services, including
merchanting

Despite
a
substantial
deepening of this deficit to
€12 billion, it was still far
smaller than the record deficit
of €41 billion in 2011

This trend stems from a 0.9%
dip in exports and strong
imports driven by France’s
economic recovery
40
699,2 30
693,6
645,1

672,2
678,4
20
Exports
: -0.9%
Exportations
: -0,9 %
10
477,0
0
435,8
408,0
-0,3
-6,5
300
-10
-13,0
-15,2
-23,0
-23,7
200
-28,9
-27,0
-29,3
-32,4
100
-23,6
-20
-30
-40
Source : Banque de France
-40,6
0
-50
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Balance
Solde
2007
2008
Exports
Exportations
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Imports
Importations
NB: the figure for trade in goods and services, excluding merchanting, in the balance of payments is slightly different from the figure
published by Customs because of methodological differences.
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
8
The trade deficit deepened to €48.1 billion in 2016, but it was still smaller than the
2014 deficit
Trade in goods, nominal terms, in € billion
80
600
60
503,1
509,6
498,0
494,9
436,2
436,4
500,6
40
20
0
391,9
394,6
360,4
+0,3
406,5
428,6
417,6
455,5
The increase stems primarily
from the increase in the deficit
excluding energy and military
equipment to €11.1 billion
453,0
400
346,5
+1,4
300
-13,7
-13,2
-15,3
-20,7
-24,2
-21,2
-21,3
-23,4
-29,3
-29,9
-34,5
-42,5
-40
442,0
395,0
-13,9
-20

447,5
424,5
384,6
The deficit on trade in goods
grew by €3.1 billion, or 7%,
after shrinking by nearly
€30 billion in four years.
However, it was still smaller
than the 2014 deficit
500
473,9
449,0

501,1
-45,0
-45,4
-52,4
-56,2
-61,8
-60
200
-48,1
100
-58,5
-67,6
-74,5
-80
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
Solde
global
(FAB/FAB)
Globalcommercial
trade balance
(FOB/FOB)
Exports (right
hand scale)
Exportations
(échelle
de droite)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Solde hors
énergie et
hors matériel
militaire
(CAF/FAB)(CIF/FOB)
Balance
excluding
energy
and military
equipment
Imports
(right(échelle
hand scale)
Importations
de droite)
Source:
Customs,
Trésor
Source
: Douanes, DG
DG Trésor
Données
hors négoce
international
Data
excluding
merchanting
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
9
The balance of trade in services was in equilibrium in 2016, following a contraction of the
surplus comparable to that seen in 2015. Meanwhile, the surplus on merchanting
increased for the seventh year in a row to €23.5 billion
30,0
250,0
Exportations
-2,1%
Exports : -0.9%
24,0
25,0
24,9
200,0
20,2 19,7
19,1
20,0
Trade
in services
€ billion
19,6
Importations
+1,8%
Imports : +1.8%
16,9
15,0

13,1
150,0
15,4
15,3
14,5 14,1 15,2
14,8
12,7
100,0
8,8
10,0

50,0
5,0
0,4
-
-
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016*
23,2
17,8
18,8
23,5
18,6
15,4
Merchanting
€ billion

11,0
9,0
2008
2009
9,5
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
2015
2016*
The surplus on trade in
services shrank by an amount
comparable to the contraction
of approximately €8 billion
seen in 2015, bringing the
balance into equilibrium in
2016
The smaller surplus on trade in
services stems primarily from
the shrinking surplus on travel
services (tourism), which fell
from €7.1 billion in 2014 to
€6.8 billion in 2015 and to €2.0
billion in 2016, and the 1.1%
decline in the surplus on
transport services and the 2.7%
decrease in the surplus on
business services
The increase in the surplus on
merchanting to € 23.5 billion
marked the seventh year of
growth in a row
No imports are recorded in the trade
balance on merchanting, which includes
only “net” exports (net merchanting
receipts).
10
All in all, the current account balance is nearly in equilibrium, in contrast to the
major deficits and surpluses seen in other EU countries
Current account balances of the leading European countries (as a % of GDP, 12-month
moving average)

The current account balance,
which measures France’s net
borrowing with the rest of the
world improved substantially
between 2013 and the fourth
quarter of 2015

The trend was reversed in 2016

However, France’s current
account balance is nearly in
equilibrium today, in contrast
to the large surplus for
Germany and the large deficit
for the United Kingdom
Source Eurostat
:dernierlast
pointdata
T3 2016
Source:
Eurostat,
point 2016Q3
8%
3%
-2%
-7%
NB: the current account data presented here
are provisional and subject to revision when
the annual report on the balance of
payments is published in June.
-12%
2001 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016
T1 t3 T1 t3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3 T1 T3
Allemagne
Germany
Espagne
Spain
France
France
Italie
Italy
Pays-Bas
Netherlands
Royaume-Uni
United Kingdom
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
11
The industries that traditionally drive our foreign trade lost ground, but exports in the auto,
shipbuilding and military equipment industries were particularly strong in 2016

Contributions to the
variation in exports
between 2015 and 2016,
in € bn
Vehicles
Ships
Military equipment
Textiles
Art objects
Auto equipment
Pharmaceuticals
Railway equipment
Aeronautics and space
Food products and
beverages
Capital goods
Chemicals, perfumes and
cosmetics
Agricultural products
Oil products
Natural hydrocarbons
lower exports combined
higher imports (aerospace,
products and beverages)
decline in both exports
imports (chemicals)
Hydrocarbures
naturels
Natural
hydrocarbons
The trade surplus in the aerospace
sector contracted by 17% to €18.6
billion, and the surplus on food
products and beverages shrank by
35% to €5.9 billion and the surplus on
trade in chemicals declined by only
1.5% to €10.8 billion

The substantial 4.6% growth of auto
exports, however, failed to offset the
10.1% rise in imports

Exports of military equipment posted
a new record of €6.3 billion in 2016,
up from exports of €5 billion in 2015

Several exceptionally large contracts
were delivered in 2016 by France’s
shipbuilding industry (Harmony of
the Seas) and by its rail industry
(high-speed line in Morocco)
2,5
Navires
Ships
1,0
militaire
MilitaryMatériel
equipment
0,9
d’art
ArtObjets
objects
0,6
Pharmacie
Pharmaceuticals
0,6
Textile
Textiles
0,5
Produitsperfumes
chimiques, parfums
cosmétiques
Chemicals,
and etcosmetics
-0,2
Équipements
automobiles
Autopour
equipment
-0,7
Industries
Food products
andagroalimentaires
beverages
-0,8
Biens d'équipement
Capital
goods
-2,1
Produits
agricoles
Agricultural
products
-2,4
Véhicules
Vehicles
Aéronautique
spatial
Aeronautics
andetspace
with
food
or a
and

7,0
Produits pétroliers
raffinés
Refined petroleum
products
Contributions to the
variation in the trade
balance between 2015
and 2016,
in € bn
The trade surpluses in the three
main sectors where France is a net
exporter shrank as a result of
-2,5
-3,7
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
12
After increasing in each of the four previous years, the number of exporters was stable in
2016 at 124,100
Number of exporters and value of exports of goods
Exports
(in € billion)

A decline of 700 companies
posted in 2016, following very
strong growth in 2015

The number of goods exporters
grew by 7% from its low in 2009
to stand at 124,000 in 2016

The number of exporting SMEs
shrank by 0.7% over the year, but
the value of their exports rose by
2.1%.

The
number
of
exporting
intermediate-sized
enterprises
(ISEs) increased by 0.3%. They
make up only 4.2% of the total
number of exporters, but they
account for one-third of exports

Large corporations make up only
0.4% of the total number of
exporters, but they account for
more than half of the exports
(53.7%)
Number of
goods exporters
Source: Customs
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
13
France's market shares have stabilised since 2012
France’s share of global exports

France’s share of global trade
has remained stable since 2012:
3.3% for goods in the first half of
2016, versus 3.5% of trade in
goods and services in 2015
(latest available data in nominal
terms)

This stabilisation is in contrast
to the decline in the market
shares of most advanced
economies seen since the early
1990s

The same trend is seen in the
data in real terms, proving that
the stabilisation is not the
result of currency or price
effects
5,5%
Phase
de stabilisation
Stabilisation
phase
5,0%
4,5%
Goods
and
in
Biens
etservices
services
2015:2015
3.5%
: 3,5%
4,0%
3,5%
3,0%
Biens
Goods
1er semestre
2016 :3.3%
3,3%
First
half of 2016:
Source : FMI, OCDE
2,5%
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
2014
2016
14
The slower growth of world trade in 2016 dampened France’s foreign trade performance,
but this trend is expected to fade in 2017
Growth of world trade, goods and services, in real terms
The growth of world trade slowed
sharply in 2016, as a result of the blip
in the US, disappointing import
figures in the euro area and a drop in
Chinese imports. Growth stood at
1.9% in 2016, compared to 2.7% in
2015

These growth rates also fall far short
of their long-term trend from before
the crisis, when average yearly
growth stood at 6.7% between 1990
and 2008

The contribution to trade from
emerging economies was larger in
2016, and is expected to grow further
in 2017. The end of the recessions in
Russia and Brazil should lead to a
substantial rebound in their imports

The IMF is also expecting the
advanced economies to bounce
back, with growth of some 3.6% in
2017
Forecast
Prévision
12,4
12,4

11,3
9,3
7,8
8,0
7,0
5,7
3,8
2,9
2,8
3,5
3,8
3,8
2,7
1,9
0,3
Économies
développées
Developed economies
Reste
Rest ofdu
themonde
world
Total
world
trade mondial
Total commerce
-10,5
Average
annualannuelle
growth inmoyenne
%
croissance
en %
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Source: IMF
France's Foreign Trade in 2016
15
This presentation and the full press kit can be found on the Diplomatie website: http://bit.ly/1RQvgyg
The production of this report was coordinated by the Foreign Trade Bureau of the Directorate General of the Treasury, with contributions from the
Directorate General’s Diagnosis and Forecasts, Export Finance and Trade Promotion and Trade Policy and Investment divisions, along with contributions
on trade in services from the Banque de France and contributions from Customs.
Unless otherwise indicated, the data on France come from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGDDI), in the case of trade in goods, and
from the Banque de France, in the case of trade in services, merchanting and the current account balance.