PARIS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Falling energy imports helped France to narrow its trade deficit to 3.5 billion euros (4.07 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of July from a month earlier, official data showed on Friday.
Imports declined mainly due to major drop in energy and pharmaceutical products, customs noted.
As to the country's total sales abroad, the eurozone main powerhouse enjoyed momentum. Its exports totalled 41.3 billion euros over the period, up by 1.2 percent, the highest level since December 2017 thanks to "very high level of deliveries of aerospace and pharmaceutical industries."
Despite "seasonal variation," Airbus saw "exceptional" performance for the month of July after generating 2.84 billion euros in the sale of 37 aircraft. In 2017, it gained 1.6 billion euros during the same month, customs figures showed.
For the past 12 months, the cumulated trade deficit narrowed to 60.9 billion euros in total compared to 63.5 billion euros in 2017. (1 euro = 1.164 U.S. dollar)
