France's trade deficit widened at 4.2 bln euros in January

PARIS, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Falling sales abroad widened France's trade gap by 16.7 percent in January to 4.2 billion euros (4.71 billion U.S. dollars) compared to the December data, customs figures showed on Friday.

Over the period, sales abroad lost one percent to generate 42.5 billion euros after the strong rebound of December when it recorded a 4.2-percent growth.

The fall in exports stemmed many from a decline in refined petroleum products, automotive industry products as well as jewellery goods, customs services said.

Exports from aeronautical business also slowed down. France gained 2.1 billion euros in the sales of 22 Airbus aircraft compared with 43 aircraft sold in December 2018 whose value was at 3.3 billion euros.

As for imports, the eurozone's second main powerhouse saw its purchases inching up by 0.4 percent to reach 46.7 billion euros at the end of January.(1 euro = 1.121 U.S. dollar)