After six years of steady growth, the EU27 trade in goods with Africa dropped in 2009, with exports falling by 10% and imports by one third, compared with 2008. As a result, the EU27 deficit in trade with Africa, which reached a peak of 40 billion euro in 2008, turned into a small surplus of 1 bn in 2009.

The first nine months of 2010 showed a renewed growth in EU27 trade with Africa. Exports rose from 79 bn in the first nine months of 2009 to 90 bn in the same period of 2010, and imports from 79 bn to 96 bn. As a result, the EU27 trade balance with Africa moved from in balance in the first nine months of 2009 to a deficit of 6 bn in the same period of 2010. In the first nine months of 2010, Africa accounted for 9% of the EU27's total trade in goods.

On the occasion of the third EU-Africa Summit, which takes place on 29 and 30 November 2010 in Tripoli in Libya, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, issues data on trade in goods between the 27 Member States of the EU and 53 African countries.

France, Italy and Germany account for more than half of EU27 trade with Africa

Among the EU27 Member States, the largest exporters to Africa in the first nine months of 2010 were France (20 bn or 22% of EU27 exports), Germany (15 bn or 17%) and Italy (13 bn or 14%). Italy (22 bn or 23% of EU27 imports), France (16 bn or 17%), Spain (15 bn or 16%) and Germany (11 bn or 12%) were the largest importers. The largest deficits in the first nine months of 2010 were registered by Italy (-9 bn) and Spain (-7 bn), while Germany (+4 bn), France (+3 bn) and Sweden (+2 bn) had the biggest surpluses.

Machinery and vehicles accounted for 40% of EU27 exports to Africa in the first nine months of 2010, while energy made up nearly 60% of EU27 imports. At the detailed level, the main EU27 exports included petrol, medicine and cereals, while the main imports from Africa included oil, gas and diamonds.

South Africa, Algeria and Libya are the main African trading partners of the EU27

Among the African countries, South Africa (16 bn or 17% of the total) was the leading destination for EU27 exports in the first nine months of 2010, followed by Algeria and Egypt (both 11 bn or 12%), Morocco (10 bn or 11%), Tunisia and Nigeria (both 8 bn or 9%). The leading source of EU27 imports from Africa was Libya (20 bn or 21%), followed by Algeria (16 bn or 16%), South Africa (14 bn or 14%) and Nigeria (10 bn or 10%). The largest EU27 deficits in trade in the first nine months of 2010 were recorded with Libya (-15 bn), Algeria (-4 bn), Nigeria (-2 bn), Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast (both -1 bn), and the highest surpluses with Egypt (+6 bn), Morocco (+4 bn), South Africa (+2 bn), Senegal and Tunisia (both +1 bn).