EU trade balance sees $31B gap in Jan-Oct

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The EU's foreign trade balance posted a €28 billion ($31 billion) deficit in the first 10 months of this year, the union's statistical authority said on Tuesday.

The 28-member bloc's exports of goods totaled €1.69 trillion ($1.89 trillion) in January-October with a year-on-year rise of 3.8%, Eurostat data showed.

Its imports from the rest of the world amounted to €1.72 trillion ($1.92 trillion), rising 4.4% during the same period.

The intra-EU28 trade went up 1.6% on an annual basis to nearly €3 trillion ($3.35 trillion) between January and October.

- Turkey the EU's number 5 trading partner

The U.S. was the top market for EU exporters with €376.9 billion ($420.7 billion) or a share of 22% of the bloc's total exports.

The EU's other major export markets were China, Switzerland, Russia, and Turkey.

On the imports side, China was the main source, with €351 billion ($392 billion), accounting for 20.3% of total imports.

It was followed by the U.S., Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey.

In January-October, the bloc's trade balance saw the highest deficit with China -- €166 billion ($185.3 billion) -- and the biggest surplus with the U.S., with €130.6 billion ($145.8 billion).

Turkey was the fifth-largest trading partner of the EU in the first 10 months of this year, with a trade volume of €127.4 billion ($142.2 billion).

EU exports to Turkey totaled €60.3 billion ($67.3 billion), while imports from the country were €67.1 billion ($74.9 billion) during the same period, leaving Turkey with a trade surplus of €6.8 billion ($7.6 billion).