The Euro Area Maintained A Trade Surplus With Both Imports And Exports Declining
The euro area trade surplus increased slightly in August 2020.The reason was a larger decline in imports than in exports.However, the August results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic still has a major impact on international trade in goods.This is according to the latest data from the European Statistical Office Eurostat.
Imports and exports fell
According to Eurostat's first estimate, the value of euro area exports to the rest of the world fell by 12.2 percent year on year in August 2020 to € 156.3 billion.
At the same time, imports fell by 13.5 percent to 141.6 billion euros. As a result, the euro area recorded a trade surplus of € 14.7 billion in August 2020, slightly higher than the surplus of € 14.4 billion in August 2019. Intra-euro area trade fell by 4 in August. 6% to 129.2 billion euros.
In the eight months from January to the end of August 2020, exports of euro area goods fell by 12.4 percent to € 1.3556 trillion and imports fell by 13.1 percent to € 1.2287 trillion.
Intra-euro area trade fell by 12.3 percent
The euro area thus recorded a surplus of 127 billion euros after a surplus of 133.7 billion euros in the period January-August 2019. Intra-euro area trade fell by 12.3 percent to 1.15 trillion euros in the first eight months.
Across the European Union (EU), according to the first estimate, exports fell by 14 percent to 139.7 billion euros in August 2020 and imports by 15.6 percent to 128.3 billion euros.
The EU thus recorded a surplus in trade in goods of € 11.3 billion, more than € 10.6 billion a year ago. Intra-EU trade fell by 4.2 percent to € 208.8 billion in August 2020.Between January and August 2020, exports of goods outside the EU fell by 12.4 percent to 1.2299 trillion euros and imports by 13.4 percent to 1.1188 trillion euros.The EU recorded a surplus of € 111.1 billion over the period under review, which was less than last year's surplus of € 112.3 billion.Intra-EU trade fell by 11.2 percent to 1.81 trillion euros.From January to August, China was the EU's main partner.The increase in imports from this Asian country to the European bloc increased by 4.4 percent and exports decreased by 1.1 percent.In the case of the USA, both imports (-11.9 percent) and exports (-10.7 percent) recorded a significant decline.