Euro area's trade balance with the world swung to €10.2B surplus in October from €700M deficit a year ago; EU's trade deficit fell to €9.4B from €11.3B

Cindy Allen

BRUSSELS , December 17, 2012 (press release) – The first estimate for the euro area1 (EA17) trade in goods balance with the rest of the world in October 2012 gave a 10.2 bn euro surplus, compared with -0.7 bn in October 2011. The September 20122 balance was +9.5 bn, compared with +0.8 bn in September 2011. In October 2012 compared with September 2012, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.4% while imports increased by 0.6%. These data3 are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The first estimate for the October 2012 extra-EU271 trade in goods balance was a 9.4 bn euro deficit, compared with -11.3 bn in October 2011. The September 20122 balance was -12.5 bn, compared with -11.4 bn in September 2011. In October 2012 compared with September 2012, seasonally adjusted exports decreased by 1.7% while imports rose by 0.3%.

EU27 detailed results for January to September 2012

The EU27 deficit for energy increased (-310.3 bn euro in January-September 2012 compared with -286.0 bn in January-September 2011), as did the surplus for manufactured goods (+262.6 bn compared with +175.2 bn).

EU27 exports to most of its major partners grew in January-September 2012 compared with January-September 2011, except for India (-5%) and Switzerland (-1%). The most notable increases were recorded for exports to South Korea (+16%), Russia and Japan (both +15%), the USA and Brazil (both +13%). As regards EU27 imports, the pattern was mixed. The largest increases were recorded for imports from Switzerland (+13%), the USA (+9%) and Norway (+8%), and the largest falls with India (-9%) and Japan (-7%).

The EU27 trade surplus increased with the USA (+64.5 bn euro in January-September 2012 compared with +51.5 bn in January-September 2011) and Turkey (+20.6 bn compared with +19.5 bn), but fell with Switzerland (+21.3 bn compared with +31.5 bn). The EU27 trade deficit declined with China (-108.8 bn compared with -119.3 bn), Russia (-65.5 bn compared with -70.2 bn) and Japan (-7.2 bn compared with -16.3 bn), but rose with Norway
(-39.1 bn compared with -35.6 bn).

Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+142.1 bn euro in January-September 2012), followed by the Netherlands (+36.2 bn) and Ireland (+32.4 bn). The United Kingdom (-121.9 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-62.5 bn), Spain (-27.3 bn) and Greece (-11.4 bn).

October 2012 euro area, EU international trade in goods

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