The French trade balance improved by €0.8 billion to -€5.6 billion in April, reflecting a narrowing in the overall deficit.
This of course follows from the sharp declines recorded in February (-€3.5 billion) and March (-€1.3 billion)
The better showing was driven by a strong increase in exports (+€1.7 billion), which outpaced the growth in imports (+€0.9 billion). Looking at the details, export growth owed much to increased deliveries of transport equipment. That saw an improvement of €0.7 billion, in particular for aeronautical products (+€0.5 billion).
Besides that, exports of mechanical, electronic, and IT equipment also rose sharply (+€0.6 billion) on the month. Meanwhile, import growth was mostly driven by supplies of natural hydrocarbons (+€0.4 billion). However, the more telling detail is where the switch in terms of geographical weight of overall imports.