EU trade balance shifts into surplus

The Eurozone trade balance moved into surplus in April, official data showed on Friday, although the amount came in below market expectations.

According to first estimates from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, the surplus in trade in goods was €15bn in April, compared to a deficit of €11.1bn in April 2023.

Analysts had expected a surplus closer to €20bn.

Exports to the rest of the world jumped 14% year-on-year to €247.6bn, while imports rose 1.8% to €232.5bn.

Month-on-month, however, the surplus fell to €15bn from €23.7bn in March. Eurostat attributed the decline to an increase in the deficit in the energy sector and a decrease of surplus for chemicals.

In the wider European Union, the surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world was €13.9bn in April compared to a deficit of €14.2bn a year previously.

Among individual countries, the trade balance with the US - the EU’s biggest trading partner - was €17.1bn, compared to €9.9bn a year previously.

With China, the deficit narrowed from €24.8bn to €21.1bn, while with the UK, the surplus rose to €15.7bn from €9.9bn.