Eurozone’s global trade in goods obtains surplus of €10.2bn

The first estimate for the eurozone’s global trade in goods balance with the rest of the world in June 2012 gave a 14.9 billion euro surplus, compared with +0.2 bn in June 2011. The May 20122 balance was +7.1 bn, compared with -0.9 bn in May 2011. In June 2012 compared with May 2012, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 2.4% and imports remained almost stable. These data are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The first estimate for the June 2012 extra-EU271 trade in goods balance was a 0.4 bn euro surplus, compared with -15.3 bn in June 2011. In May 20122 the balance was -3.8 bn, compared with -14.2 bn in May 2011. In June 2012 compared with May 2012, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 2.1% and imports by 0.9%.

The EU deficit for energy increased (-176.6 bn euro in January-May 2012 compared with -156.8 bn in January-May 2011), as did the surplus for manufactured goods (+133.8 bn compared with +90.6 bn).

EU exports to most of its major partners grew in January-May 2012 compared with January-May 2011, except for Turkey and India (both -4%). The most notable increases were recorded for exports to Russia (+18%), South Korea (+16%), Brazil (+15%) and Japan (+14%). As regards EU imports, the pattern was mixed. The largest increases were recorded for imports from Norway (+12%) and the USA (+9%), and the largest falls with India (-10%) and Japan (-6%).

The EU trade surplus increased with the USA (+32.5 bn euro in January-May 2012 compared with +28.2 bn in January-May 2011), but fell with Switzerland (+18.2 bn compared with +19.0 bn) and Turkey (+10.5 bn compared with +11.0 bn). The EU trade deficit fell with China (-56.4 bn compared with -62.4 bn), Russia (-42.8 bn compared with -45.3 bn) and Japan (-5.8 bn compared with -10.1 bn), but increased with Norway (-24.8 bn compared with -20.4 bn).

Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+74.7 bn euro in January-May 2012), followed by the Netherlands (+20.4 bn) and Ireland (+16.9 bn). The United Kingdom (-60.9 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-36.1 bn) and Spain (-16.8 bn).