During 2008, euro area trade recorded a deficit of 32.1 bn euro, compared with +15.8 bn in 2007. The EU27 recorded a deficit of 241.3 bn in 2008, compared with -192.4 bn in 2007.
EU27 January-November 2008 detailed results
The EU27 energy deficit increased (-339.5 bn euro in January-November 2008 compared with -243.1 bn in January-November 2007), while the surplus for machinery and vehicles rose (+140.3 bn compared with +112.8 bn).
EU27 trade with most of its major partners grew, with the exception of exports to the USA (-5% in January-November 2008 compared with January-November 2007) and Japan (-4%), and imports from South Korea (-6%) and Japan (-4%). The largest increases were recorded for exports to Brazil (+26%) and Russia (+20%), and for imports from Russia (+25%) and Norway (+23%).
The EU27 trade surplus fell with the USA (+59.8 bn euro in January-November 2008 compared with +74.5 bn in January-November 2007), while it increased with Switzerland (+16.3 bn compared with +14.7 bn) and Turkey (+8.0 bn compared with +5.1 bn). The EU27 trade deficit grew with China (-155.7 bn compared with -149.0 bn), Russia (-64.7 bn compared with -48.4 bn) and Norway (-44.7 bn compared with -29.3 bn), but fell with Japan (-30.7 bn compared with -32.0 bn), South Korea (-12.6 bn compared with -15.8 bn) and Brazil (-8.5 bn compared with -10.8 bn).
Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+168.2 bn euro in January-November 2008), followed by the Netherlands (+38.0 bn) and Ireland (+25.6 bn). The United Kingdom (-111.7 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by Spain (-84.2 bn), France (-64.2 bn), Greece (-33.2 bn), Poland (-22.3 bn), Portugal (-21.2 bn) and Romania (-21.0 bn).
