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The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1% in June 2013, stable compared with May. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.9%, down from 11.0% in May. In both zones, rates have risen compared with June 2012, when they were 11.4% and 10.5% respectively.

After the decline in EU27 trade in goods with South Africa observed in 2009, exports recovered strongly to reach a peak of 26.6 billion euro in 2012, while imports grew more slowly to reach 20.5 bn in 2012, still below the peak of 24.6 bn in 2008. As a result, EU27 trade with South Africa registered a surplus of 6.1 bn in 2012, compared with +1.3 bn in 2010 and +4.4 bn in 2011.

Euro area annual inflation was 1.6% in June 2013, up from 1.4% in May. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was 0.1% in June 2013. European Union annual inflation was 1.7% in June 2013, up from 1.6% in May. A year earlier the rate was 2.5%. Monthly inflation was 0.1% in June 2013.

House prices, as measured by the House Price Index (HPI), fell by 2.2% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU in the first quarter of 2013 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, according to data published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In May 2013 compared with April 2013, the volume of retail trade rose by 1.0% in the euro area (EA17) and by 1.2% in the EU27, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In April retail trade decreased by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively. In May 2013, compared with May 2012, the retail sales index dropped by 0.1% in the euro area, while it rose by 0.5% in the EU27.

In May 2013, compared with April 2013, the industrial producer price index fell by 0.3% in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU27, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In April prices decreased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU27. In May 2013 compared with May 2012, industrial producer prices fell by 0.1% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27.

The euro area (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.2% in May 2013, up from 12.1% in April. The EU27 unemployment rate was 11.0%, stable compared with the previous month4. In both zones, rates have risen markedly compared with May 2012, when they were 11.3% and 10.4% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In 2012, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one.

Based on first preliminary estimates for 2012, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 47% to 271% of the EU27 average across the Member States.

The EU27 Member States granted protection to 102 700 asylum seekers in 2012, compared with 84 300 in 2011. In 2012, the highest number of persons granted protection status was registered in Germany (22 200), followed by Sweden (15 300), the United Kingdom (14 600) and France (14 300). All together, these four Member States accounted for nearly two thirds of all those granted protection status in the EU27. The largest groups of beneficiaries of protection status in the EU27 were citizens of Syria (18 700 persons or 18% of the total number of persons granted protection status), Afghanistan (13 500 or 13%) and Somalia (8 100 or 8%).