- By Éric Juillot at Les Crises
A senatorial report was recently devoted to the question of the agrifood trade balance of France [1]. The conclusion he reached would have seemed completely improbable a few years ago: if the current trajectory is confirmed, this balance will become deficit in the short term, perhaps as early as 2023. Quite realistic given the evolution This recent forecast nonetheless constitutes a major reversal since, since the early 1970s, the agricultural sector's trade balance has been structurally in surplus [2].
We must take this announcement for what it is, very bad news, testifying to the decline - relative, but continuous - of the productive base of our country. After industry, agriculture is in turn confronted with problems such as the impossibility of ensuring food self-sufficiency in France in the short term. The agricultural potential of our country is, however, without equivalent in Europe: the extent of its agricultural surface, the quality of its soils and its climatic diversity make it a country which has always been susceptible of massive agricultural production. The changeover announced in the structural deficit is therefore an anomaly, especially when one has in mind the quantitative performances of productivist agriculture for half a century. How did we get here ? (Google-translated)
Some images from the French Senate report mentioned by Juillot:
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| Stagnation in production |
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| No leadership in food security |
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| France losing out to European competitors (whom they subsidise) |
Overall Economic output stats from Trading Economics website:
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