France trade, by volume, is one of the largest in the world. France exports and imports various raw materials on one side of the spectrum and automobiles and electronic products on the other side. The country ranks sixth in the world in terms of export volumes and 5th when it comes to imports. Being a well developed economy, French trade features a lot of raw materials and manufactured goods.
France is the world’s second largest exporter of services and farm products and fourth largest exporter of goods (principally durables); it had a trade surplus of 104.5 billion francs ($20.9 billion) in 1995. French exports stood at 1,427 billion francs ($285.4 billion) in 1995, 22% of GDP. Imports amounted to 1,322 billion francs ($264.4 billion).
These figures show a sharp increase in the surplus in durable goods (over 58 billion francs, $11.6 billion), a 20 billion-franc surplus ($4 billion) in farm products, a surplus of 31 billion francs ($6.2 billion) in agri-foodstuffs, a declining energy bill and a rise of 19% in electricity exports.
France’s European Union partners absorb 64% of its trade. The country had a trade surplus of 27 billion francs ($5.4 billion) with the EU in 1995. France’s main customers are Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain, along with the United States.
In 2009, France’s export volumes amounted to $456.8 billion and the country ranked 6th in the world. However, the figures were much higher in 2008 at $601.9 billion.