EU Trade Balance: Germany had €140.3bn trade surplus in 2010 followed by Ireland at 40.3bn; United Kingdom had largest deficit at -€105.4bn.

Eurostat, the EU statistics office today reported that the first estimate for the  Eurozone (EA16) trade balance with the rest of the world in th month of December 2010 gave a €0.5bn  deficit, compared with +€3.2bn in December 2009. The November 2010 balance was -€1.5bn, compared with +€2.7bn in November 2009. In December 2010 compared with November 2010, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.4% and imports by 1.1%.

The first estimate for the December 2010 extra-EU27 trade balance was a €10.5bn  deficit, compared with -€2.9bn in December 2009. In November 2010  the balance was -€15.4bn, compared with -€7.7bn in November 2009. In December 2010 compared with November 2010, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.3% and imports by 0.4%.

During 2010,  Eurozone trade recorded a surplus of €0.7bn , compared with +€16.6bn in 2009. The EU27 recorded a deficit of €143.3bn in 2010, compared with -€108.1bn in 2009.

The EU27 deficit increased for energy (-€267.1bn  in January-November 2010 compared with -€218.4bn in January-November 2009), while the surplus for manufactured goods rose (+€156.7bn compared with +€142.5bn).

EU27 trade with all its major partners grew in January-November 2010 compared with January-November 2009. The most notable increases were recorded for exports to Brazil (+48%), China and Turkey (both +38%), and for imports from Russia (+33%), China (+31%) and India (+30%).

The EU27 trade surplus increased with the US (+€67.0bn  in January-November 2010 compared with +€42.6bn in January-November 2009), Switzerland (+€18.5bn compared with +€13.5bn) and Turkey (+€16.8bn compared with +€6.8bn). The EU27 trade deficit increased with China (-€154.8bn compared with -€121.7bn), Russia (-€61.2bn compared with -€45.9bn) and Norway (-€33.0bn compared with -€28.6bn). The deficit remained nearly stable with Japan (-€19.8bn compared with -€19.4bn) and South Korea (-€10.4bn compared with -€10.3).

Concerning the total trade of member countries, the largest surplus was observed in Germany (+€140.3bn  in January-November 2010), followed by Ireland (+€40.3bn), the Netherlands (+€38.1bn) and Belgium (+€16.5bn). The United Kingdom (-€105.4bn) registered the largest deficit, followed by France (-€57.4bn), Spain (-€46.5bn), Italy (-€24.5bn), Greece (-€21.0bn), Portugal (-€18.1bn) and Poland (-€11.9bn).

Foreign-owned firms, mainly American, are responsible for about 90% of Ireland's tradeable goods and services exports.