Eurozone Trade Surplus Declines In October

The euro area trade surplus declined in October largely due to the rebound in imports, data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday.

The trade surplus fell to EUR 6.8 billion in October from EUR 9.4 billion a year ago. This was also below September's level of EUR 11.6 billion.

The fall in surplus reflects a reduction in the surplus for chemicals and related products and machineries and vehicles and an increase in the deficit for energy.

Exports posted an annual growth of 2.1 percent after a 0.1 percent gain in the previous month. Meanwhile, imports rebounded 3.2 percent, reversing a fall of 0.7 percent in September. On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports slid 1.6 percent, while imports grew 1.3 percent. As a result, the trade surplus plunged to EUR 6.1 billion from EUR 12.6 billion in September.

During January to October, the trade surplus was EUR 143.3 billion, up from EUR 22.7 billion in the same period last year. Exports posted an annual increase of 0.5 percent, while imports fell 4.6 percent.

Further, the EU balance showed a EUR 3.9 billion surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in October, compared with EUR 8.4 billion in the previous year.