Brussels, 17/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - According to first estimates for the month of February 2009, published on Friday 17 April by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the euro area had an external trade balance deficit of €2 billion with the rest of the world, compared to a €1.7 billion surplus in February 2008. The January 2009 balance was -€10.9 bn, compared with -11.1 bn in January 2008. In February 2009 compared with January 2009, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.5% while imports fell by 0.8%.
The first estimate for the February 2009 extra-EU27 trade balance was a deficit of €10.6 bn compared with -13.3 bn in February 2008. In January 2009, the balance was -27.2 bn, compared with -30.3 bn in January 2008. In February 2009 compared with January 2009, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 8.0% while imports fell by 1.9%.
EU27 January 2009 detailed results. The EU27 energy deficit decreased (-20.7 bn euro in January 2009 compared with -31.0 bn in January 2008), while the surplus fell for chemicals (+4.6 bn compared with +6.3 bn) and for machinery and vehicles (+2.8 bn compared with +7.9 bn). EU27 trade flows with all of its major partners fell. The biggest reductions were recorded for exports to Turkey
(-44%), Russia (-36%) and India (-32%), and for imports from Russia (-37%), Turkey (-33%), South Korea and Brazil (both -31%). The EU27 trade surplus fell with the USA (+1.4 bn in January 2009 compared with +4.8 bn in January 2008) and with Switzerland (+1.0 bn compared with +1.7 bn). The EU27 trade deficit grew with China (-15.8 bn compared with -15.2 bn), but decreased with Russia (-4.6 bn compared with -7.2 bn), Norway (-3.4 bn compared with -4.7 bn) and Japan (-2.3 bn compared with -2.8 bn).
Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+7.2 bn euro in January 2009), followed by the Netherlands (+3.0 bn) and Ireland (+2.9 bn). The United Kingdom (-8.9 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-5.6 bn), Spain (-4.1 bn), Italy (-3.6 bn), Greece (-2.3 bn), Portugal (-1.3 bn) and Poland (-1.0 bn). (L.C./transl.jl)