Euro zone closes trade gap in January
European Union statistics agency Eurostat disclosed that the Euro zone's foreign trade deficit decreased from €5.1 billion in December 2004 to €2.2 billion in January 2005.
Exports rose 0.2% month on month in January, while imports increased 1.8% month on month.
In 2004, the Euro zone posted a trade surplus of €73.2 billion compared to €69.7 billion in 2003.
However, the trade deficit for 25 member states of European Union (EU) as a whole rose from €12.1 billion in January 2004 to €14 billion in January 2005.
Among EU member states,
Germany reported the largest trade surplus (€157 billion) in 2004.
Ireland saw a trade surplus of €35.3 billion, the
Netherlands €31.4 billion,
Sweden €18.7 billion and
Belgium €16.5 billion.
The EU's trade surplus with the US rose from €69.1 billion in 2003 to €76.5 in 2004. The EU's trade surplus with
Switzerland and
Turkey rose to €13.5 billion and €7.1 billion respectively.
On the other hand, the EU's trade deficit with
China rose to €78.7 billion in 2004. The EU posted a trade deficit of €34.8 billion with
Russia.