Eurozone, EU post foreign trade deficit in February

ISTANBUL

Both eurozone and the EU saw their trade balance in the red in February, according to figures released by Eurostat.


The trade deficit was €7.6 billion ($8.6 billion) in the euro area and €15.8 billion ($17.85 billion) in the EU, down from surplus of €23.6 billion ($28.55 billion) and €21.4 billion in February 2021, a Eurostat statement said.

The euro area or the EA19 represents the member states that use the euro as their single currency, while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

EUR/USD exchange rate was 1.13 in this February and 1.21 last February.

The eurozone's exports totaled €215.8 billion, increasing 17% year-on-year in February, while imports rose by 38.8% to €223.4 billion.

In the EU, exports increased by 16.4% to €191.9 billion, while imports jumped by 44.7% to €207.7 billion in February on a yearly basis.

In January, Euro area trade balance registered a record high deficit of €27.2 billion ($30.1 billion).


Two-month figures

During the January-February period, the eurozone's trade balance saw a deficit of €34.9 billion, while exports and imports totaled €416.6 billion and €451.5 billion, respectively.


In the EU side, the exports and imports totaled €371.4 billion and €424 billion, respectively, posting a €52.7 billion deficit in the two-month period.


China was the EU's main trading partner in January-February, with €94.9 billion in imports to the union and €34.8 billion in exports.


Country-to-country trade balances indicated that the EU had incurred its largest deficit with China – €60.1 billion – and the highest surplus with the US – €24.6 billion – over the same period.

Turkiye was the union's seventh-largest trading partner during the two-month period, with €13.7 billion in imports from the union and €15.2 billion in exports, seeing €1.4 billion in surplus.