23/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Euro area trade balance with the rest of the world in June 2006 gave a 2.0 bn Euro surplus compared with +6.8 bn in June 2005. For June 2006 extra-EU25 trade was a deficit of 11.8 bn Euro, compared with -2.3 bn in June 2005. The energy deficit grew strongly (-118.8 bn Euro in January-May 2006 compared with -79.9 bn in January-May 2005), while the surpluses rose in the chemicals sector (+31.0 bn compared with +26.5 bn) and for machinery and vehicles (+39.8 bn compared with +35.0 bn). The largest surplus was observed in Germany (+62.7 bn Euro in January-May 2006), followed by the Netherlands (+15.7 bn), Ireland (+13.3 bn) and Sweden (+7.9 bn). The United Kingdom (-42.6 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain (-34.9 bn), France (-15.1 bn), Greece (-13.9 bn) and Italy (-12.7 bn).