French foreign trade deficit hit a record high of 26.459 billion euros (about 31.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005, more than tripling the figure in 2004, according to data released by the French customs service on Friday.

The hike was half due to the surging oil prices in the international market in the last year.

France's imports of energy products reached 53.054 billion euros (63.7 billion dollars) and its exports 15.573 billion euros (18.3 billion dollars), leading to a net deficit of 37.481 billion euros (45 billion dollars).

Civil industry registered a deficit of 6.129 billion euros (7.4 billion dollars) in 2005, while food industry mustered a gain of 7.7 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars).

France's trade with the European Union registered a deficit of 8.8 billion euros (10.6 billion dollars) in 2005, while its trade with Britain had a surplus of 8.4 billion euros (10.1 billion dollars).

With Asia, France saw its exports and imports both much increased, by 16 percent and 13.3 percent respectively.

Source: Xinhua