These data are released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.


The first estimate for the euro area (EA15) trade balance with the rest of the world in January 2008 gave a 10.7 bn euro deficit, compared with -7.3 bn in January 2007. The December 2007 balance was -4.1 bn, compared with +2.3 bn in December 2006. In January 2008 compared with December 2007, seasonally adjusted exports and imports rose by 7.4%.
The first estimate for the January 2008 extra-EU27 trade balance was a deficit of 30.7 bn euro, compared with -26.0 bn in January 2007. In December 20072, the balance was -17.6 bn, compared with -10.0 bn in December 2006. In January 2008 compared with December 2007, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 6.2% and imports by 4.9%.


EU27 2007 detailed results

The EU27 energy deficit decreased (-269.5 bn euro in 2007 compared with -280.8 bn in 2006), while the surplus rose for machinery and vehicles (+129.9 bn compared with +101.5 bn).

EU27 trade with most of its major partners grew, with the exception of exports to the USA (-3% in 2007 compared with 2006) and Japan (-2%), and imports from Norway and South Korea (both -3%). The largest increases were recorded for exports to Russia (+23%), India (+21%), Brazil (+20%), Norway (+13%) and China (+12%), and for imports from Brazil (+20%), China (+19%), India (+16%) and Turkey (+12%).

The EU27 trade surplus fell with the USA (+80.4 bn euro in 2007 compared with +93.8 bn in 2006) and remained nearly stable with Switzerland (+15.9 bn compared with +16.1 bn). The EU27 trade deficit grew with China (-159.2 bn compared with -131.0 bn), Japan (-34.2 bn compared with -32.5 bn) and Brazil (-11.2 bn compared with -9.4 bn), but decreased with Russia (-54.3 bn compared with -68.6 bn), Norway (-33.3 bn compared with -40.7 bn) and South Korea (-14.6 bn compared with -17.9 bn).

Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+195.4 bn euro in 2007), followed by the Netherlands (+43.5 bn), Ireland (+28.5 bn), Sweden (+13.0 bn) and Belgium (+12.9 bn). The United Kingdom (-132.6 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain (-96.0 bn), France (-44.6 bn), Greece (-37.9 bn), Romania (-21.6 bn), Portugal (-19.4 bn) and Poland (-17.4 bn).


Available at:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2008/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2008_MONTH_03/6-19032008-EN-BP.PDF