France's December trade deficit came to 3.47 billion euros ($4.30 billion), according to seasonally adjusted data from the customs office. That was down from 5.62 billion euros in November.
A Reuters poll of five economists had forecast on average for the deficit to reach 4.9 billion euros for December.
For 2017 as a whole, the trade deficit climbed to 62.3 billion euros, up from 48.3 billion euros a year earlier and reaching its highest level since 2012.
The customs office said that exports rose 5.9 percent in December from November, boosted by a year-end bump in deliveries by Airbus. Meanwhile, imports were up 0.4 percent month on month.
Separately, the central bank said that the current account deficit stood at 900 million euros in December, narrowing from 3.3 billion euros in November.