EU trade balance sees $32.3B deficit in Jan-Feb

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - EU's foreign trade balance posted €28.4 billion ($32.3 billion) deficit during the first two months of 2019, the union's statistical authority announced on Wednesday.

Eurostat said the 28-member bloc's exports of goods surged 4.1% year-on-year to reach €309.8 billion ($353.2 billion).

The EU's imports from the rest of the world were €338.2 billion ($385.5 billion), up 6.2% versus the first two months of 2018.

In the same period of 2018, the EU foreign trade balance posted €20.7 billion surplus ($25.2 billion).

The intra-EU28 trade grew by 3.6%, totaled nearly €591.8 billion ($674.6 billion) year-on-year in January-February.

In the January-February period, the U.S. was the top market for EU exporters with €69.5 billion ($79.23 billion) or 22.4% of the bloc's total exports.

Following the U.S., the EU's other major export markets were China, Switzerland, Russia, and Turkey.

On the imports side, China was the main source for the EU with €71.8 billion ($81.8 billion), accounting for 21.2% of total imports.

The country was followed by the U.S., Russia, Switzerland, Turkey and Norway.

In the same period, the bloc's trade balance saw its largest deficit with China -- €37.8 billion ($43.1 billion) -- and the biggest surplus with the U.S., with €21.6 billion ($24.6 billion).

The union also posted a trade deficit of €2.7 billion ($3.1 billion) with Turkey in the two-month period.

Euro/the U.S. dollar exchange rate was 1.14 as of the end of February 2019 and 1.22 as of the end of February 2018.