A Significant And Continuous Slump Of French Economic Influence In Algeria

The volume of trade exchange between Algeria and France continues to decline, after it was struggling to regain its lost leadership with China, it is now losing second place to Italy, and is a strong candidate to lose third place, in light of the remarkable growth of trade exchange between Algeria and Spain, the next partner in quietness and stability, after the final clearing of the atmosphere between the two countries during the visit of the Madrid government president, Pedro Sanchez to Algeria on the 20th of last month.

For the third consecutive year, the economic influence of France in Algeria is declining, however, this decline was significant between last year and the current year, as trade exchange between the two countries lost more than 2 billion euros, in the period between July 2025 and the same month of the year 2026, from 11 billion euros to less than 9 billion euros, a decline that coincided with an unprecedented diplomatic and political crisis between the two countries.

Even within the 9 billion euros, the French trade balance recorded, according to French media reports, a loss against its Algerian counterpart by about 1 billion euros, thanks to Algeria’s exports of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, with some other exports that are not significantly influential, while it was accompanied by a large decline in some French goods, by a percentage exceeding 100%, such as agricultural and food products, iron and steel, and spare parts and equipment related to the automotive industry.

Trade initiatives between Algeria and China occupy first place with about 15 billion dollars, according to figures issued by the Chinese ambassador to Algeria, while Italy occupies second place with more than 14.68 billion dollars, meaning that the difference equals about 320 million dollars, according to the specialized site “Trading Economics”.

If China’s dominance over trade exchanges with Algeria is natural given the depth and history of bilateral relations, as well as the strength of the Chinese economy, then the Italian breakthrough began to make its way toward prosperity in 2022, after Algerian-Spanish relations were damaged, and what resulted from Algeria directing its energy exports compass toward Italy, which has since become the exclusive distributor of Algerian gas to the old continent.

The reaching of the volume of Italian trade exchanges to approximately 15 billion dollars is attributed to the very excellent relations between Algeria and Rome during the era of the current Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, as the two countries exchanged many high-level visits, and reference is made here to the special and distinguished reception that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received during his visit to Rome in July 2025.

Italy is also considered among the European countries that did not engage in paths through which France tried to pressure Algeria via the European Union gateway, such as restricting Algerian iron and steel exports, as Algeria exported to Italy nearly 200 million dollars of iron and steel, as well as fertilizers, cement, chemicals, plastics, and rubber.

Not far from Italy, Spain seems to be advancing at an accelerated pace and is a candidate to advance ahead of France, and according to figures issued by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the volume of trade exchanges between Algeria and Madrid in 2025 reached nearly 8.5 billion euros, which means that the difference in exchanges between Algeria and France on one hand, and exchanges between Algeria and Spain, has become less than half a billion euros, and it is candidate to explode given the growth rate of Spanish exports, provided by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, estimated at more than 168% in 2025, in light of the remarkable improvement in bilateral relations.

If the trade surplus between Algeria and Madrid is tilted towards double in favor of Algeria, because the latter is considered the primary supplier for Spain in the field of gas, then the lifting of economic sanctions imposed by Algeria on Madrid following the 2022 crisis would enhance, in the near future, Spain’s advancement over France in trade exchanges, should the current situation continue, a major crisis between Algeria and France, and a reconciliation moving at an accelerated pace between Algeria and Spain, or as economists say, the political train pulls the economy and trade wagon.