Euro Area surplus amounted to €17.7 billion while EU was higher at €21.1 billion

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), is reporting that the Euro Area and the EU are both reporting surpluses in international trade as the European bloc shows signs of recovery.

The surplus in the Euro Area amounted to €17.7 billion while the EU was higher at €21.1 billion.

Eurostat reports that, “the first estimate for Euro Area exports of goods to the rest of the world in February 2021 was €178.6 billion, a decrease of 5.5 per cent compared with February 2020 (€188.9 billion).”

In comparison to February 2020, imports from the rest of the world stood at €161.0 billion, a decline by 2.7 per cent to €165.4 billion. Consequently, surplus in the trade in goods with the rest of the world was recorded at €17.7 billion in the Euro Area compared with €23.4 billion in February 2020.

The report also mentioned that, in February 2021, there was an increase in the intra-euro area trade to €164.8 billion. This reflects a 1.7 per cent increase relative to February 2020. Moreover, Euro Area exports of goods to the rest of the world declined to €346.2 billion, a 7.2 per cent decrease relative to January-February 2020.

At the same time, imports decreased to €317.5 billion, a drop of 8.7 per cent compared with January-February 2020. As such, the Euro Area experienced a surplus in the trade in goods of €28.7 billion compared with €25.0 billion in January-February 2020.

However, intra-euro area trade declined to €319.2 billion down by 2.7 per cent compared with January- February 2020.

European Union

In February 2021, the first estimate for extra-EU exports of goods amounted to €164.7 billion, a 3.6 per cent decrease compared with February 2020 (€170.8 billion). Imports from the rest of the world amounted to €143.6 billion, a 3.0 per cent decline compared with February 2020 (€148.1 billion).

As a result, Eurostat stated: “The EU recorded a €21.1 billion surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in February 2021, compared with €22.7 billion in February 2020. Intra-EU trade remained almost unchanged at €254.2 billion in February 2021 compared with February 2020.”

Additionally, in January to February 2021, extra-EU exports of goods decreased to €313.5 billion down by 6.9 per cent compared with January-February 2020, whereas, imports declined to €283.7 billion, a decrease of 10.3 per cent relative to January-February 2020.

As a result, the EU experienced a surplus of €29.7 billion, compared with €20.5 billion in January-February 2020. In January-February 2021 intra-EU trade decreased to €498.7 billion, -2.9 per cent compared with January-February 2020.