Commercial ties between Algeria and France weakened sharply over the 12 months ending in June 2026, according to Algerian government statistics. Total goods trade fell to less than €9 billion, representing a decline of roughly 23% from the preceding 12-month period, when two-way trade totaled about €11.6 billion.
The contraction comes as political relations between Algiers and Paris remain strained and Algeria tightens control over imports. Since July 2025, Algerian authorities have used a Forecast Import Program requiring companies to plan and obtain scrutiny for foreign purchases in advance. The objective is to reduce import spending, protect foreign-exchange reserves and favor domestic production.
France exported approximately €4 billion in goods to Algeria between July 2025 and June 2026. Algeria exported about €4.9 billion to France during the same period, leaving France with a trade deficit of roughly €865 million.
The decline was broad-based. French food and agricultural exports fell by about 60%, dropping from €119 million during the prior 12-month period to €47 million. French exports of automotive equipment declined 37%, from €102 million to €64 million.
The automotive category remains significant despite the drop. Motor-vehicle products accounted for approximately one-quarter of French exports to Algeria, but sales declined about 15%, from €1.2 billion to €1 billion. Exports of measuring, testing and navigation equipment, along with watches and related goods, dropped 36.6%. French iron, steel and processed-steel exports fell 36.4%, reaching €94.6 million.
The figures suggest that Algeria’s controls are affecting the types of products France has traditionally supplied: machinery, industrial inputs, vehicle-related goods and food products. For French exporters, Algeria has historically been an important nearby market, linked to France through shipping routes, corporate ties and a large Algerian-origin population in France. Those links remain, but the commercial relationship is becoming less central to Algeria’s trade strategy.
Algeria has increasingly sought to diversify trade ties, particularly with China, Turkey, Italy and other partners. China has become Algeria’s largest source of imports, while Algeria has also looked for suppliers able to provide manufactured goods, construction materials, equipment and consumer products under different commercial and financing arrangements.
The trade decline also reflects Algeria’s continuing dependence on energy exports. Natural hydrocarbons represented 72% of Algerian exports to France during the latest 12-month period. Refined petroleum products and coke accounted for another 16.9%. Products outside the energy sector made up only 3.3% of Algerian sales to France.
Algeria’s natural-hydrocarbon exports to France fell 22%, to €3.5 billion. That meant a decline of roughly €1 billion from the previous 12-month period. French imports of Algerian refined petroleum products declined 6.7%, from €881.8 million to €823 million.
The structure of the relationship helps explain why changes in either country’s policy can have an outsized effect. Algeria sells France mainly natural gas, oil and refined petroleum products. France sells Algeria manufactured products, industrial equipment, vehicle-related goods and food products. When Algeria limits imports, French industrial and consumer-goods exports decline quickly. When energy demand or prices fall, Algeria’s sales to France decline as well.
Political tensions add another layer of uncertainty. Algeria and France have faced repeated disputes over immigration, visas, the legacy of French colonial rule, security cooperation and France’s support for Morocco’s position on Western Sahara. Those disagreements do not automatically stop trade, but they can make it harder to resolve administrative barriers, promote investment or maintain the political goodwill that often supports commercial ties.
The decline follows an earlier downturn. Total trade between the two countries reached about €11.1 billion in 2024, a 4.3% decrease from the previous year. The latest figures indicate that the pace of decline has accelerated considerably.
The relationship is unlikely to disappear. France remains an important market for Algerian energy and an established supplier of industrial and consumer goods. But the numbers point to a larger shift: Algeria is reducing exposure to French imports while its energy-based export relationship with France is also weakening.
Whether that becomes a long-term realignment will depend on Algeria’s import policy, as well as future energy sales, and whether the two governments can contain their wider political disputes.
