EU trade surplus shrinks in 2017

The European Union’s international trade in goods surplus narrowed 28 percent to 25 billion euros (U.S. $31.1 billion) last year, as a 7.7 percent increase in exports was offset by 8.2 percent import growth.    The European Union’s surplus in international trade in goods narrowed 28 percent to 25 billion euros (U.S. $31.1 billion) in 2017, according to the latest preliminary data from Eurostat.
   International goods exports from the 28 EU member countries rose 7.7 percent to 1.88 trillion euros for the year, but that growth was offset by an 8.2 percent jump in imports to 1.85 trillion euros.
   For the 19 euro area countries – Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland – goods exports climbed 7.1 percent year-over-year to 2.19 trillion euros, while imports grew 9.7 percent to 1.95 trillion.
   As a result, the EA19 recorded a goods surplus of 238.1 billion euros, down 10.2 percent from 265.2 billion euros in 2016.