EU28 trade deficit some $6B in Aug: Eurostat

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - New Eurostat data released on Monday revealed the European Union's foreign trade balance saw a €5.1 billion (around $6 billion) deficit in August.

The EU28’s exports of goods in August was €145.5 billion ($171.9 billion), up 6.4 percent year-on-year, while imports from the rest of the world stood at €150.5 billion ($177.8 billion) with a 3.9 percent yearly increase.

The foreign trade deficit in August showed a nearly 38 percent recovery, compared with €8.2 billion ($9.18 billion) in the same month last year.

Official data also showed intra-EU28 trade in August climbed by 7.7 percent on a yearly basis, reaching €249.3 billion ($294.6 billion).

The average euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate was around 1.18 in August this year, while €1 was trading for $1.12 on average in August 2016.

This January to August, EU28 exports to the rest of the world reached some €1.23 trillion ($1.35 trillion), marking a 9.3 percent rise over the same period in 2016, while imports stood at around €1.22 trillion ($1.34 trillion) with a 9.4 percent yearly hike.

In the first eight months of this year, the EU28 foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of nearly €5.5 billion ($6.05 billion) and trade volume within 28 member countries rose 7.2 percent year-on-year to approximately €2.19 trillion ($2.41 trillion).

The average euro/dollar exchange rate was around 1.1 in the Jan.-Aug. period this year.

According to Eurostat, the U.S. was the top export destination for the EU28 with exports worth around €248 billion ($273 billion), which accounts for 20.1 percent of the 28 countries’ exports between Jan.-Aug.

Official figures showed China, Switzerland, Russia and Turkey following the U.S. in the list of main export partners.

In the same period, the EU28 imported most from China -- valued at some €238 billion ($262 billion) amounting 19.4 percent of total imports -- while the U.S., Russia, Switzerland and Norway became the EU28’s top import sources.