France's trade deficit smashed another record in May, reaching 7.42 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars), as energy imports soared and exports remained sluggish, the external department announced.
The figure surpassed the previous record of 7.17 billion euros in April.
Imports totalled 41.6 billion euros, as against exports of 34.18 billion euros. With May's red-ink figure, the cumulative trade deficit over the past 12 months came to 63.42 billion euros.
At the end of 2010, the trade deficit stood at 51.56 billion euros.
Despite a growth in agricultural exports, overall exports were in decline, with exports of military goods down nearly 100 million euros and energy exports also falling over the month.
A growth in exports to the European Union was offset by a decline in exports to the rest of the world.
High oil prices continued to feed into a soaring import bill, the figures showed.
China and Hong Kong continued to account for the biggest chunk of the deficit. France's imports from China and Hong Kong in May were worth 2 billion euros more than its exports to the two countries, which are grouped in the statistics.
France also has a huge deficit - 1 billion euros in May - with its biggest trading partner, Germany.
The country's trade balance hasn't been positive since 2002. - Sapa-dpa