Brussels, 17/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - According to the latest estimates published this week by Eurostat, the eurozone notched up a surplus of €17.1 billion in its goods balance with the rest of the world, compared to that of €12.5 billion in 2012. The EU28 had a surplus of €3.4 billion compared to -€3 billion in October 2012. The EU28 deficit for energy decreased (-€321.3 billion in January-October 2013 compared with -€351.6 billion in January-October 2012), while the surplus for manufactured goods increased (+€322.1 billion compared with +€287 billion).
Over the first ten months of the year 2013, EU28 imports fell from most of its major partners (-14% with Japan and Brazil, -13% with Switzerland and -12% with Norway) except for Turkey (+3%). The most notable increase in trade surplus was with Switzerland (+31%) and most notable decrease was with India
(-6%), the United States and Japan (-3% each).
In total, the EU28 surplus increased considerably with Switzerland (from +€20.7 to +€66.4 billion) and more moderately with the United States (from +€72.9 to +€77.1 billion). Its deficit was reduced with China (from -€124.1 to -€110.6 billion), Russia (from -€76.1% to €72.1 billion), Norway (from -€43.5 to -€32.8 billion) and Japan (from -€8.2 to -€2.1 billion). The largest surplus was observed in Germany (+€166.3 billion) ahead of the Netherlands (+€45.5 billion) and Ireland (+€23.7 billion). The United Kingdom had the largest deficit (-€66.5 billion), followed by France (-€63.5 billion), Greece (-€16.2 billion) and Spain (-€12.8 billion). (EH/transl.jl)