Euro Area International Trade Records EUR 17B Surplus in March

The first estimate for the euro area trade in goods balance with the rest of the world in March 2014 gave EUR 17.1B surplus, compared with EUR 21.9B in March 2013.

The February 2014 balance was for a surplus of 14.2B, compared with 9.8B in February 2013. In March 2014 compared with February 2014, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.5% and imports by 0.6%, according to the data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

The highest increases of EU exports were registered with China (+13% in January-February 2014 compared with January-February 2013) and South Korea (+9%), and the highest increases of EU imports with South Korea (+11%) and Switzerland (+6%).

The most notable decreases were recorded for exports to Russia (-10%), Brazil and Turkey (both -5%), and for imports from Russia (-10%) and Japan (-8%).

The EU trade surplus increased with the USA (EUR 14.5B in January-February 2014 compared with EUR 13.8B in January-February 2013), decreased with Turkey (EUR 3.2B compared with EUR 3.9B) and remained stable with Switzerland (EUR 10.9B).

The European trade deficit fell with China (-EUR 24.1B compared with -EUR 25.9B) and Russia (-16.4B compared with -18.1B) and remained nearly stable with Norway (-7.5B compared with -7.4 B).

Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany with EUR 31.7B in January-February 2014, followed by the Netherlands (EUR 10.0B), Ireland (EUR 5.1B) and Italy (EUR 3.0B). The United Kingdom (-EUR 16.7B) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-EUR 13.3B), Spain (-EUR 4.0B) and Greece (- EUR 3.6B).