France's balance of payments and international investment position 2024

The current account balance improved significantly in 2024, returning to a surplus of EUR 2.7 billion after two years of deficits (EUR 29.4 billion in 2023 and EUR 37.7 billion in 2022). This improvement was attributable to both a reduction in the trade deficit, driven by a sharp decline in energy costs and a recovery in trade in industrial goods, and a further increase in the services surplus. The income surplus contracted slightly, reflecting a narrowing in the gap between implicit interest rates on foreign assets and interest rates on liabilities with non-residents, which had remained relatively stable between 2013 and 2022.

In particular, in 2024 the trade in services balance returned to a level close to that of 2022, confirming the favourable trend that began in the early 2020s. This momentum was driven in particular by exceptionally buoyant exports of intermediate services, especially services to businesses. Compared to the period before the health and energy crises (due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine), the current surplus is now underpinned by a services surplus that is greater than the average observed over the previous decade, although this is partly offset by an energy bill that remains high in a context of prices that are still greater than those before the energy crisis.

After two years of exceptional net capital inflows, the financial account balance was close to equilibrium in 2024 with net capital inflows of EUR 6.9 billion. Amidst contracting flows of assets and liabilities, the portfolio investment balance has reversed and net capital outflows amounted to EUR 51.0 billion. These mainly concern equity investments, but were offset by net inflows of other categories of financial instruments.

France's net international investment position improved by EUR 230.0 billion year on year, to a negative amount of EUR 670.4 billion, or -22.9% of GDP, compared with -31.9% in 2023 – mainly as a result of valuation gains, attributable almost entirely to the rise in asset prices and, to a lesser extent, to the depreciation of the euro, which have benefited assets held by residents’ more than liabilities owed to non-residents.