Europe 1 with AFP 9:34 a.m., June 8, 2022, modified at 9:34 a.m., June 8, 2022

In March, the deficit had already reached 11.8 billion euros, the worst deficit ever recorded.

It also reached an absolute record in total over twelve rolling months.

The sharp deterioration in the French trade balance is linked to the "pronounced" increase in imports, against "exports which are increasing more slightly this month".

The trade deficit for French goods reached a new record in April at 12.4 billion euros, "significantly" degraded by energy imports whose prices soared with the invasion of Ukraine, Customs said on Wednesday.

In March, the deficit had already reached 11.8 billion euros according to revised figures from Customs, the worst deficit ever recorded.

It also reached an all-time cumulative record over twelve rolling months, at 106.6 billion euros.

The sharp deterioration in the French trade balance is linked to the "pronounced" increase in imports, up to 58.8 billion euros, against "exports which increased more slightly this month", to 46.4 billion, detail the Customs.

This gap is driven "mainly by the growth in the prices of traded goods", they specify, affirming that import prices have increased by 7% when import prices have only increased by 4%.

"The rise in energy prices is once again the main cause of this situation", they added, stressing that excluding energy, the external balance of goods fell "more moderately over the month", worsening by only 100 million euros compared to March.

Oil prices have soared in recent months in the wake of the gradual recovery of the global economy and then the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, propelling the price of a barrel towards 120 dollars.

The increase in the energy bill seems to be "slowing down"

In France, gasoline prices reached record levels last week, above the two-euro mark despite the rebate at the pump put in place by the government, said the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

The increase in the energy bill, at a "still sustained" pace, however, seems to be "slowing down" (+0.6 billion euros this month, against +0.8 billion euros on average over the previous six months ), underlined the Customs.

In addition to energy, trade in consumer goods and intermediate goods posted "virtually stable respective balances this month", "in a context of rising food and industrial prices", added the Customs.

As for the balance of payments, which includes trade in services, the current account deficit stood at 3.4 billion euros in April, perfectly stable compared to the previous month according to revised figures, detailed the Bank of France on Wednesday.