Luxembourg, 20/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a press release issued on 19 February, Eurostat reports that in 2002, euro-zone trade recorded a surplus of EUR 102.3 bn, compared with +49.5 bn in 2001. The EU15 recorded a surplus estimated at 6.1 bn in 2002, against a deficit of 42.7 bn in 2001. In both zones, the improvement in the trade balance in 2002 compared to 2001 is due mainly to a decrease in imports (-4%), exports having only slightly increased (+1%). The energy deficit decreased (-101.9 bn in January-November 2002 compared to -110.1 bn in January-November 2001), while the surplus for machinery and vehicles increased (+86.7 bn compared to +72.9 bn). The surplus in the chemicals sector also increased (+65.3 bn compared to +59.9 bn). Growth in EU15 trade flows with its major partners was mixed. The largest falls were recorded in imports from Japan (-12%), the USA (-11%) and Norway (-7%), and in exports to Japan and Switzerland (both -6%). The most notable increases were in imports from the Czech Republic (+9%), Turkey (+8%) and China (+6%) and exports to Turkey (+18%), China (+12%) and Russia (+10%).
EU15 trade with the USA was characterised by an increase in the EU surplus (+EUR 58.2 bn in January-November 2002 compared to +40.8 bn in January-November 2001) while EU15 trade with Japan showed a decrease in the EU deficit (-23.9 bn compared to -29.9 bn). The EU15 trade deficit with China remained stable (-43.8 bn compared to -42.8 bn). The highest EU15 trade deficit in January-November 2002 was recorded with China and the highest surplus was registered with the USA. Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+117.9 bn euro), followed by Ireland (+35.4 bn). The United Kingdom registered the largest deficit (-63.6 bn), followed by Spain (-33.1 bn).
The EU Statistical Office's first estimate for zone trade with the rest of the world in December 2002 was a EUR 7.4 billion euro surplus, as against +8.5 bn in December 2001. The revised November 2002 balance was +9.6 bn, compared with +6.4 bn in November 2001. The first estimate for December 2002 extra-EU15 trade was a 2.0 bn euro surplus, compared with +2.6 bn in December 2001. In November 2002, there was a revised surplus of 0.1 bn, against a deficit of 0.4 bn in November 2001.