Between 2000 and 2008, EU27 trade in goods with Russia more than tripled in value, with EU27 exports to Russia rising to 105 bn euro in 2008 from 23 bn in 2000, and imports rising to 173 bn from 64 bn. As a result, the EU27 trade deficit with Russia increased significantly, reaching 68 bn in 2008, compared with 41 bn in 2000.

The share of Russia in the EU27's total external trade in goods doubled between 2000 and 2008. In 2008, Russia was the EU27's third most important trading partner after the USA and China, accounting for 8% of EU27 exports and 11% of EU27 imports.

On the occasion of the 23rd European Union - Russia summit, which will take place on 22 May in Khabarovsk in Russia, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, issues data on trade and investments between Russia and the EU.

Germany, the Netherlands and Italy: largest trading partners of Russia

Among the EU27 Member States, Germany (32 bn euro or 31% of EU exports) was by far the largest exporter to Russia in 2008, followed by Italy (10 bn or 10%) and Finland (8 bn or 7%). Germany (35 bn or 20%) was also the largest importer, followed by the Netherlands1 (20 bn or 11%) and Italy (16 bn or 9%).

Most Member States recorded deficits in trade with Russia in 2008, the largest being observed in the Netherlands1 (-13 bn euro), Poland (-8 bn), France and Italy (both -6 bn). The highest surpluses were recorded in Austria and Slovenia (both 1 bn).

Half of EU27 exports to Russia in 2008 were machinery and vehicles and another quarter were other manufactured articles2, while energy accounted for two thirds of imports. At the detailed level, the main EU27 exports to Russia included motor cars, medicine, mobile phones and aircraft, while the main imports included oil, gas and coal.

EU27 surplus of 8 bn in trade in services with Russia

In 2008, the EU27 exported 22 bn euro of services to Russia, while imports amounted to 14 bn, meaning that the EU27 had a surplus of 8 bn in trade in services with Russia, compared with +4 bn in 2006 and +7 bn in 2007. The surplus in 2008 was mainly due to travel (+3.0 bn), other business services3 (+2.2 bn), financial services and computer services (+1.4 bn each), partially offset by a deficit in transportation (-1.5 bn). Russia accounted for around 3.5% of total extra-EU27 trade in services.

Steady increase in EU27 FDI in Russia

EU27 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Russia has grown in recent years, rising from 10.8 bn euro in 2006 to 16.7 bn in 2007 and 21.6 bn in 2008, while Russian direct investment into the EU27 increased from 1.4 bn in 2006 to 9.2 bn in 2007, then turned to disinvestment of 0.4 bn in 2008.