The first estimate for the euro area (EA17) trade balance with the rest of the world in February 2011 gave a 1.5 bn euro deficit, compared with +1.4 bn in February 2010. The January 2011 balance was -15.6 bn, compared with -10.4 bn in January 2010. In February 2011 compared with January 2011, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 1.6% and imports by 1.0%.

The first estimate for the February 2011 extra-EU27 trade balance was a 9.6 bn euro deficit, compared with -7.5 bn in February 2010. In January 20112 the balance was -30.2 bn, compared with -23.4 bn in January 2010. In February 2011 compared with January 2011, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.7%, while imports fell by 0.2%.

These data are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

EU27 January 2011 detailed results

The EU27 deficit increased for energy (-32.2 bn euro in January 2011 compared with -22.3 bn in January 2010), while the surplus for manufactured goods rose (+6.5 bn compared with +1.9 bn).

EU27 trade with all its major partners grew in January 2011 compared with January 2010. The most notable increases were recorded for exports to Turkey (+53%), Russia (+49%), India (+42%) and Norway (+41%), and for imports from Norway (+39%), Brazil (+38%), Russia (+33%) and China (+31%).

The EU27 trade surplus increased with the USA (+4.1 bn euro in January 2011 compared with +2.8 bn in January 2010) and Turkey (+1.2 bn compared with +0.3 bn), and remained stable with Switzerland (+1.2 bn). The EU27 trade deficit increased with China (-15.7 bn compared with -12.3 bn), Russia (-9.4 bn compared with -7.6 bn), Norway (-4.3 bn compared with -3.1 bn) and Japan (-2.1 bn compared with -1.7 bn), but fell with South Korea
(-0.8 bn compared with -1.3 bn).

Concerning the total trade of Member States, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+10.1 bn euro in January 2011), followed by the Netherlands (+3.2 bn) and Ireland (+2.7 bn). The United Kingdom (-11.1 bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-8.0 bn), Italy (-6.6 bn), Spain (-4.9 bn), Greece (-2.2 bn) and Portugal (-1.3 bn).