Eurozone falls back into trade deficit
(BRUSSELS) - The 16-nation eurozone fell back into a global trade deficit in August following a surplus in July, the European Union statistics agency said Friday.
The trade deficit plunged to 4.3 billion euros (6.1 billion dollars) in August following a surplus of 6.2 billion euros the previous month, Eurostat said.
Exports rose by 1.0 percent in August after a drop of 0.6 percent in July. Imports grew by 1.8 percent in August.
The global trade deficit of the wider, 27-nation European Union, which includes Britain and industrial power Poland, widened to 17.3 billion euros in August after a shortfall of 6.2 billion euros in July.
EU exports dropped by 0.1 percent while imports rose by 1.3 percent.
In the period between January and July, European export champion Germany posted a surplus of 87.7 billion euros, the biggest in the union. Britain posted the biggest deficit which reached 63.6 billion euros.
The EU's trade surplus with the United States grew to 39.2 billion euros between January and July while the deficit with China increased to 86.4 billion euros.