Russia, South Korea record highest increase in euro zone imports

The first estimate for the euro area trade in goods balance with the rest of the world in September 2012 gave a 9.8 bn euro surplus, compared with +1.7 bn in September 2011. The August 20122 balance was +5.2 bn, compared with -5.9 bn in August 2011. In September 2012 compared with August 2012, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.1% and imports by 2.7%. These data are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The first estimate for the September 2012 extra-EU trade in goods balance was a 12.6 bn euro deficit, compared with -10.9 bn in September 2011. The August 20122 balance was -13.2 bn, compared with -22.5 bn in August 2011. In September 2012 compared with August 2012, seasonally adjusted exports decreased by 1.5% and imports by 1.7%.

As for the EU deficit for energy, it has increased (-277 bn euro in the period of January-August 2012 compared with -252.5 bn in January-August 2011), as did the surplus for manufactured goods (+232.9 bn compared with +154.5 bn).

EU exports to most of its major partners grew in January-August 2012 compared with January-August 2011, except for India (-5%). The most notable increases were recorded for exports to Russia and South Korea (both +18%), Japan (+17%), the USA and Brazil (both +14%). As regards EU imports, the pattern was mixed. The largest increases were recorded for imports from the USA (+11%) and Norway (+10%), and the largest falls with India (-9%) and Japan (-5%).

The EU trade surplus increased with the USA (+56.1 bn euro in January-August 2012 compared with +46.1 bn in January-August 2011) and Turkey (+17.9 bn compared with +16.8 bn), but fell with Switzerland (+24.1 bn compared with +26.9 bn).

The EU trade deficit declined with China (-95.1 bn compared with -103.7 bn), Russia (-58.2 bn compared with -64.6 bn) and Japan (-6.6 bn compared with -14.4 bn), but rose with Norway (-36.0 bn compared with -31.7 bn).

Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+125.3 bn euro in January-August 2012), followed by the Netherlands (+31.0 bn) and Ireland (+29.3 bn). On the other hand, the United Kingdom (-101.2 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-56.5 bn), Spain (-23.8 bn) and Greece (-10.2 bn).