The first estimate for euro area trade with the rest of the world in June gave a €0.9 billion surplus, compared with a surplus of €0.7 billion in June last year, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Compared with May, June’s seasonally adjusted exports fell by 4.7 per cent and imports by 4.1 per cent.

The first estimate for the June 2011 extra-EU27 trade balance was a €12.2 billion deficit, compared with a deficit of €11.1 billion in June last year.

In June, compared with May, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 4.8 per cent and imports by 3.8 per cent.

The EU27 deficit for energy increased significantly from €154.7 billion in January to May compared with a deficit of €119.3 billion in January-May last year. The surplus for manufactured goods rose notably from €91.3 billion compared with €62.6 billion.

EU27 trade with all its major partners grew in January-May this year compared with January-May last year, except for imports from South Korea (-one per cent). The highest increases were recorded for exports to Turkey (+41 per cent), Russia (+39 per cent), India (+28 per cent), China (+26 per cent) and South Korea (+24 per cent), and for imports from Russia (+33 per cent), Brazil (+29 per cent), India (+28 per cent), Norway (+24 per cent), and Turkey (+23 per cent).

The EU27 trade surplus increased with the US (€29.1 billion in January-May 2011 compared with €24.9 billion in January-May last year), Turkey (€11 billion compared with €5.6 billion) and Switzerland (€10.7 billion compared with €6.7 billion).

The EU27 trade deficit increased with China (€62 billion compared with €57.8 billion), Russia (€42.9 billion compared with €33.5 billion), Norway (€20.4 billion compared with €15.7 billion) and Japan (€9.6 billion compared with €9.1 billion), but fell with South Korea (€2.4 billion compared with €5 billion).

Concerning the total trade of member states, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (€65.9 billion euro in January-May 2011), followed by the Netherlands (€20.2 billion) and Ireland (€16.9 billion). The United Kingdom (€46.7 billion) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (€38.5 billion), Italy (€20.3 billion), Spain (€20.1 billion), Greece (€8.2 billion) and Portugal (€7.6 billion).

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