Brussels, 17/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - According to initial estimates published by Eurostat on Wednesday 17 June 2009, the eurozone's trade balance with the rest of the world in April 2009 stood at a €2.7bn surplus, compared with +€2.2bn in April 2008. The March 2009 trade balance was +€1.8bn, compared with -€2.3bn in March 2008. In April 2009 compared with March 2009, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.3% and imports by 2.7%. The first estimates for the April 2009 EU27 trade balance with the rest of the world revealed a deficit of €7.8 bn, compared with -€14.9 bn in April 2008. In March 2009 the balance was -€9.3bn, compared with -€19.6bn in March 2008. In April 2009 compared with March 2009, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.5% and imports by 2.8%.
On the same day, Eurostat also published detailed figures for the EU for the first quarter of 2009. Eurostat reports that the EU's energy deficit decreased (-€58.0bn in Q109 compared with -€87.9bn in Q108), while the surplus fell for chemicals (+€17.1bn compared with +€19.5bn) and for machinery and vehicles (+€20.4bn compared with +€33.8bn). EU27 trade flows with all of its major partners fell, except for imports from Switzerland which remained stable in Q109 compared with Q108. The largest decreases were recorded for exports to Turkey (-37%), Russia (-35%), South Korea (-25%) and India (-22%), and for imports from Russia (-40%), Turkey (-27%), Japan and Brazil (both -26%).
The EU27 trade surplus fell with the USA (+€5.7bn euro in Q109 compared with +€16.4bn in Q108) and with Switzerland (+€3.2bn compared with +€4.7bn). The EU27 trade deficit decreased with China (-€37.0bn compared with -€38.5bn), Russia (-€10.1bn compared with -€18.7bn), Norway (-€9.1bn compared with -€12.3bn) and Japan (-€5.7bn compared with -€8.8bn). Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+€27.4bn in Q109), followed by the Netherlands (+€9.2bn) and Ireland (+€8.9bn). The United Kingdom
(-€23.4bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-€15.9bn), Spain (-€13.5bn), Greece (-€7.4bn) and Italy (-€4.4bn). (O.L./transl.fl)