During 2009, euro area trade recorded a surplus of 22.3 bn euro, compared with -54.7 bn in 2008. The EU27 recorded a deficit of 105.5 bn in 2009, compared with -258.4 bn in 2008.
EU27 January-November 2009 detailed results
The EU27 deficit decreased for energy (-212.1 bn euro in January-November 2009 compared with -350.7 bn in January-November 2008) and for raw materials (-17.3 bn compared with -40.3 bn). The surplus fell for machinery and vehicles (+99.0 bn compared with +138.9 bn), but rose for chemicals (+74.1 bn compared with +68.9 bn).
EU27 trade flows with all of its major partners fell, except for exports to China which grew by 2%. The largest decreases were recorded for exports to Russia (-39% in January-November 2009 compared with January-November 2008), Turkey (-22%), Brazil (-21%), the USA (-19%) and South Korea (-18%), and for imports from Russia (-38%), Norway (-30%), Brazil (-29%), Japan (-27%) and Turkey (-23%). The smallest falls were observed for trade with Switzerland, for both exports (-11%) and imports (-9%).
The EU27 trade surplus fell with the USA (+40.7 bn euro in January-November 2009 compared with +59.9 bn in January-November 2008) and Switzerland (+13.5 bn compared with +16.3 bn). The EU27 trade deficit decreased with China (-122.9 bn compared with -155.9 bn), Russia (-44.0 bn compared with -69.2 bn), Norway (-28.4 bn compared with -48.2 bn) and Japan (-18.4 bn compared with -31.1 bn).
Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+122.4 bn euro in January-November 2009), followed by the Netherlands (+35.4 bn), Ireland (+35.3 bn) and Belgium (+13.1 bn). The United Kingdom (-85.7 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-49.0 bn), Spain (-45.5 bn), Greece (-26.2 bn) and Portugal (-17.0 bn).
