France ran a current account deficit of €4.1 billion in August, only slightly narrower than July's revised shortfall of €4.3 billion, according to new Bank of France data.
"The seasonally adjusted deficit in the trade in goods improved very slightly this month to €3.1 billion from €3.5 billion in July, thanks to the increase in exports," the report said.
However, that was not enough to prevent a marked deterioration in the current account position of the euro zone's second biggest economy in the year to date.
The seasonally adjusted current account deficit for the first eight months of the year widened to €22.9 billion from €15.4 billion in the same period in 2005, a signal of both the continued strength of French imports but also of the difficulties facing exporters.
Finance Minister Thierry Breton said on Tuesday he expected healthy European growth to support French exports in the coming quarters, but business lobby MEDEF said on the same day that trade remained a weak point of the French economy.
While the euro has retreated from peaks just shy of $1.30 scaled earlier this year, firms are still feeling the pinch from the single currency's past gains against the dollar which makes their goods more expensive in US currency terms.
One high-profile example is Airbus which was recently forced to announce extra delays to its A380 superjumbo.