Eurostat, the European statistical office, has announced a European Union trade balance surplus of €197 billion for the year 2019. With an increase of €152 billion, this is a significant rise compared to 2018.
Thus, after recording a small deficit between 2009 and 2011, the EU's trade balance recorded a continuous surplus, peaking at €264 billion in 2016, and declining between 2017 and 2018.
Exports and imports of goods from outside the EU followed similar patterns, jumping between...